Sonic and Tails' Day Off
by DiddyKF1
Summary: Sequel to A Brotherly Vacation. Tails starts rushing through his work with his inventions, which leads to some devastating consequences. There's only one thing Sonic can think of doing to cheer Tails up after everything the poor fox has been through. Can Sonic cure Tails of his depression? Set in the Sonic Boom universe a few weeks after "It Takes a Village to Defeat a Hedgehog."
1. Prologue: Why so harsh?

_**Well, I was never anticipating on writing a sequel to "A Brotherly Vacation," but this idea popped into my head not so long ago, and I decided to go through with it. So, here it is:**_

 _ **Sonic and Tails' Day Off**_

 _ **As in "A Brotherly Vacation," this story will also be set in the Sonic Boom universe, or else it wouldn't be considered a sequel, wouldn't it!? LOL!**_

 _ **Anyways, here's the prologue.**_

* * *

 _ **Why so harsh?**_

* * *

Bygone Island was as sunny as ever on this summer Wednesday morning. Everything within the grass had sprouted into fresh flowers, and the trees were covered nearly from top to bottom with leaves that could turn an entire forest green. The environment felt peaceful … and sounded peaceful, as birds were chirping sweet tunes as they flew in the distance. The air rushing around the plants was warm and calm with some mild winds.

All was right with the world …

Sonic the Hedgehog was being his usual self; running around at his supersonic speeds through the forest, not caring where he ended up next. His mind was set on being adventurous as he wandered aimlessly through the plant-rich summer environment. At times like this, all the blue speedster cared about was going to new places he hadn't been to before in his life.

It had been a couple of weeks since Sonic defeated Shadow the Hedgehog in a (some would say) epic duel while Dr. Eggman tried to round up everyone whom had turned enemies against Sonic and his team in the past and create an alliance that would destroy Team Sonic once and for all. Of course, the league of villains stood no chance against the likes of Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose and Sticks the Badger. Even without Sonic helping them, the four managed to kick out the villains, and then, after Shadow disappeared, the team of five heroes proceeded to play a game of volleyball with Eggman's damaged Eggmobile as the ball! That had been one hell of a day!

Sonic thought back on that day and pondered that it might be a great idea to have a day like that occur sometime again in the future. He always enjoyed throwing speed punches and kicks at Shadow and Eggman, but he felt somewhat bored on a day when he wouldn't get a chance to do something like that, unless he was having a fun, fluffy time with Tails, whom Sonic considered to be his brother by bond.

The blue hedgehog soon realized that he was now running on a very particular pathway he knew very well and that he had ended up choosing that path while he was daydreaming in his running. This path just so happened to lead to Tails' house and workshop.

" _Man, I gotta stop daydreaming when I'm running!"_ Sonic thought to himself, _"One of these days, I'm gonna smash my head against a tree if I keep doing that!"_

In just a matter of seconds, Sonic found himself approaching the house where his brother lived. He skidded to a stop and took a moment to gaze at the surroundings. All seemed very quiet this morning, with the exception of the windmill that was providing power to the house and the workshop where Tails kept his own personal plane and worked on his inventions.

"I daydream about going to the middle of who-knows-where, and I end up about to say 'good morning' to my little bro," Sonic said to himself as he walked up to the front door, "I gotta feed myself some brain medication."

Sliding his adventurous thoughts out of the way, the cobalt hedgehog gently knocked on the door three times.

The only answer he got was silence.

He knocked three more times; still no reply.

"There's only one other place to look," Sonic said to himself as he sped away from the door and zipped to the door of the workshop, knocking on that door three times as well, "Yo, Tails! Ya in there? Ready for a nice run to the middle of anywhere on this island?"

Then came a dull-sounding voice from inside the workshop …

"Hi, Sonic. Yes, I'm in here, and as for your second question, no."

Hearing a voice that sounded like that brought Sonic into his brotherly instincts.

"Hey, why the sad-sounding voice, bro? You're usually so energetic at this time of the day," said Sonic.

"Not today," replied Tails.

"Can I come in?" asked Sonic.

The hedgehog heard a sad sigh from behind the door before receiving his answer …

"Come on in."

Sonic slowly opened the door and stepped into the workshop. As he closed the door, everything inside appeared to be perfectly fine. It looked as though Tails wasn't working on anything massive at the moment. The yellow plane looked squeaky clean, and all of the tools were in their proper places.

Then, he spotted the yellow two-tailed fox sitting lazily in front of his desk with a pencil in his hand. There were several pieces of paper on the desk, one that had writing on it and others that had scribbled drawings that could only have been scrapped design illustrations.

Sonic knew what all of this meant. Tails was struggling to think of a new invention.

"Hey, little buddy," the hedgehog spoke gently as he approached Tails and hugged him from behind, "How's my fox brother doing on this beautiful summer morning?"

Tails had a sad look on his face as he looked up at Sonic, seeing the look on the hedgehog's face that told him he wanted to help him.

"Trying to come up with something that won't fail us," the fox replied sadly.

"Why do ya say that, Tails?" asked a confused Sonic, "A lot of your inventions have helped us out tremendously."

"Well, over the past few months my success record has slipped down dramatically," said Tails, "Nearly every first impression lately has ended up with either average reviews from you or a disaster that upsets one or all of us."

"That's just not true, little buddy," said Sonic, "I've only seen very few of those incidents, and it caused little to no strain for us."

"Well, that's what you think, but what you didn't catch was another incident that happened just two days ago," said Tails.

This left Sonic feeling confused. How could he have not gained knowledge about an incident that involved Tails the day before yesterday?

"What happened, little bro?" asked Sonic.

"Well, … I had just finished building a prototype for a new weapon I had come up with to use against Eggman ..."

* * *

 _Eggman was picking on Tails yet another time. Amy, Knuckles and Sticks were all right behind the fox, trying to defend him, but it was no use, especially since Sonic was off running some errands, completely oblivious to what was happening right now._

 _Then, …_

" _It's somewhat of a coincidence that I decided to do this on a day when my arch-nemesis had other business to attend to. Why don't you run along and play with your new girl that looks more beautiful than any of you?"_

" _That's my girl you're talking about, Egg Face!" shouted Tails furiously._

" _And one of my good friends!" added Amy._

" _And what makes you say that!?" asked Sticks._

" _At least she's got one fewer tail than you for one thing," said Eggman._

 _That was the last straw. Tails had fire burning in his eyes as he grew extremely offended about his twin tails, especially since it came from Team Sonic's archenemy._

 _Seeing how red Tails' cheeks had become, Amy, Knuckles and Sticks all stepped backward so the fox wouldn't harm them by accident, just as he pulled out his new weapon: a golden ray gun._

" _I'll send you on a one-way ticket back to your garbage house for that, you MONSTER!" screamed Tails as he fired a ray of golden plasma towards Eggman, "CALL ME A FREAK AGAIN! I DARE YOU!"_

 _The plasma hit Eggman and immediately blasted him about a football field's worth of distance backwards._

" _Whoa! That was amazing!" said Knuckles in astonishment, "Tails, you come up with the wackiest weapons!"_

 _However, Eggman then came flying back right over them. Then came a crashing sound before Eggman was seen flying over them again, followed by another loud crash, and another fly-by by Eggman before one final crash-landing sound was heard._

" _WHAT!? That wasn't supposed to happen!" yelled Tails as he grew worried that something terrible must have happened._

" _We'll investigate where the crashing sounds came from," said Amy, "For now, just make sure he's at least alive."_

" _Alive!? He's our arch-nemesis!" Tails shot back, "Why would we want him alive!?"_

" _I know he's our enemy, Tails, but I'm sure Sonic wouldn't wanna come back and hear that you had accidentally killed Doctor Eggman. He would get bored for the rest of his life, and he probably wouldn't forgive you for it. Just check on him for us, please?"_

 _Tails sighed in frustration._

" _Alright, Amy."_

" _C'mon, guys!" Amy called for Knuckles and Sticks to follow her as they began their investigation._

 _45 minutes later, Tails was walking back to his workshop. He had checked on Eggman, and, to his relief, he was still alive; just knocked out and left with some injuries that would take a few weeks to heal. What the fox didn't know was the extent of the damage he had really done._

 _He was to find that out through unfortunate circumstances …_

 _Tails suddenly found himself coming face-to-face with Amy, Knuckles and Sticks, all glaring angrily at him. The fox gulped and drew a deep breath. He was sure now that he had done something horrible._

" _I'm sorry, guys," he said nervously, "I really am. L-Look, if you w-wanna know if Eggman's still alive, he is."_

" _That's not what's gotten us pissed off," said Amy._

 _Tails blushed as his heart rate went up. He was feeling very nervous now._

" _Eggman crashed through the door of my house and caused a massive wreck inside!" shouted Amy._

" _Then he blasted into my cave and ruined my bed!" added Knuckles._

" _He crash-landed into my orchard and wiped out half of my plants!" finished Sticks._

 _Tails' face turned pale as he realized the damage he had caused. He now regretted what he had done to Eggman … and to an extent, his friends. He slowly backed away, but the trio followed his footsteps and surrounded him in just a matter of seconds._

" _I'm really sorry!" Tails cried, "I meant no harm to anyone or anything! I didn't know my Gold Ray was set to boomerang mode!"_

" _Well, maybe next time, you'll know better than make a boomerang weapon!" Sticks yelled, "You stole my idea!"_

 _Tails gulped and quivered as he knelt to the ground and burst into tears._

 _Then, Knuckles grabbed him by his forehead so that he was forced to make eye contact with his teammates._

" _I'm very sorry!" Tails repeated as tears poured from his eyes and created waterfalls down his white muzzle, "I'm truly sorry!"_

" _We'll see about that, Tails!" said Amy._

" _I mean it!" yelled Tails._

" _This one's for my bed!" said Knuckles._

 _Before Tails could reply, Knuckles delivered a punch to Tails' chest. The fox held his chest tightly with his hands and moaned in pain, only for Sticks to then grab his arms._

" _This is for what you've done to my house!" yelled Amy as she slapped the poor fox across his right cheek, then again across his left cheek._

 _Tails gritted his teeth as more pain went into his face._

" _And this is for my orchard and for stealing my ideas!" said Sticks as she finished him off by smacking his face so hard that he fell to the ground and his nose started bleeding._

 _With that, the trio walked away, still in anger, leaving poor Tails all alone with a bloody face, bruised cheeks and a bruised chest._

 _The fox simply laid there in pain, agony, guilt and humiliation. He had never felt so humiliated before in his life. This felt just as painful as the early years of his childhood before he met Sonic. It felt as though history was repeating itself. Tears spilled from his eyes and mixed with the blood from his nose, creating a huge mess all over his face._

 _He then turned over to his new weapon that was now sitting next to him and gave it an angry look for the damage it had done._

" _You stupid Gold Ray!" he yelled as he kicked it with what little strength he had left._

 _The Gold Ray only slid a few feet further than where he was lying._

 _Finally, out of the shock and humiliation he had received for what he had done, Tails passed out._

* * *

Sonic was horrified as he listened to Tails' sad story. He had no idea that their own friends could be so violent towards the poor fox.

"I was unconscious for several hours before I woke up that evening on my makeshift bed," explained Tails, "Zooey had found me in the middle of the forest and brought me home. She bandaged me before waking me up and started soothing me softly as if she was my big sister. I told her what had happened and that it was all my fault, and she simply told me that accidents happen before kissing me."

Sonic was lost in his thoughts as Tails finished his story. There was a lot he needed to sort out if Tails was ever going to feel any better.

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner, little bro?" asked Sonic, "You know I could have put a stop to all of this in a flash had I known about it right away."

"I thought our friends would berate me even more and call me off as a tattletale," answered Tails.

"That sounds rather inexcusable," replied Sonic, "I'm sure they wouldn't do such a thing like that."

Tails only banged his forehead against his desk and suddenly burst into tears again. Sonic sighed sadly. He felt sorry for Tails and wanted to do whatever it took to make him happy.

It was at that moment that Sonic sat down in the second chair next to Tails and turned the fox's chair towards him so that they could face each other.

Then, Sonic gasped in horror as he looked at Tails. There was a purple bruise on the white fur of his chest which Zooey had bandaged. There were very rough bruises on both of his cheeks, which Zooey had put white healing cream on which created a dark pinkish color for his cheeks. Finally, his nose was slightly out of shape with faint blood appearing to ooze out and run down his mouth to the bottom of his chin, although the blood was actually pink stains that Zooey had tried washing off but to little avail. His nose also had a bandage wrapped around it that was helping it heal.

"Oh, my Chaos, Tails! Did they really do all of this to you!?" asked a horror-stricken Sonic as he stared at Tails' facial injuries.

The distraught hedgehog pulled Tails onto his lap and hugged him while they maintained eye contact.

"Yes!" whined Tails, "Even Zooey was in tears while she was smearing what looked like diaper cream all over my face! She felt so sorry for me that she stayed at my house overnight and all day yesterday just to care for me, acting as if she was my big sister or even my mother."

Sonic sighed in disbelief.

"Well, at least you can be grateful that your girlfriend cares for you very much," said Sonic soothingly.

"Yeah," agreed Tails, "Whenever I had to go to the bathroom, my face and chest were in so much pain that she had to carry me to the bathroom as if I was a baby. It felt so embarrassing, but she said she didn't mind only because she loves me and doesn't want to see me so sad, just like you do."

Sonic's mind soon drifted away from how caring Zooey was to Tails, and pondered more serious thoughts as to why he hadn't known sooner about all of this chaos.

"You know what really disturbs me?" asked Sonic.

"What? That my face is all scrunched up?" replied Tails.

"No. What bothers me is that no one else has told me about this," said Sonic, "Why hasn't anyone else told me about this? They could have had a 'whatever' amount of time yesterday to tell me, and they hid it all like I shouldn't know. Why shouldn't I know when my little brother that I care very deeply about gets hurt, … not just physically, but emotionally, too?"

Sonic allowed Tails to crawl back into his chair before standing up, looking deep in thought.

"Sonic?" asked a worried Tails.

"I gotta get to the bottom of this, once and for all!" said Sonic with a look of determination.

"Sonic, I've already told you everything!" said Tails, "There's even more evidence on this piece of paper!"

The injured fox pulled out the paper that had writing on it and showed it to Sonic. The hedgehog took the paper and read through it several times before he realized that it was a list of inventions that had gone awry or did not have successful results. What surprised Sonic was that there seemed to be about … TWENTY … of them, … approximately.

* * *

 **UT – Caused chaos when it started reading everyone's minds. Later captured by Eggman. I set off on a one-man mission to retrieve it. Sonic and the gang rescued us, only for Sticks to throw UT into the sea. Replacement later built successfully after a nice, brotherly vacation with Sonic.**

 **Unbolterizer – Tested against Eggman, only for it to malfunction and nearly get my team killed. Amy, Knuckles and Sticks all scolded me. Sticks even went as far as to slap me in the face, which got Sonic angry in my defense. Sonic tried to comfort me, but I only fled and isolated myself in this room until I got the Unbolterizer fixed and it successfully showed its worthiness.**

 **Berry-picking Machine – Tested it at Sticks' orchard but wrecked everything! Sticks forced me to clean up the mess and I missed the pie festival, but the Lightning Bolt Society snatched me after witnessing the catastrophe, thinking I was one of them! Later retried successfully.**

 **Hyper Exo Manifier – Tried it out against some Froglodites when Sticks was kidnapped, only for it to fail miserably.**

 **Decoration Bazooka – I wanted to come up with a faster method to decorate the village center for New Year's Eve, so I tested this out, but it failed and the team decided to scold me, except for a comforting Sonic, just as was the case with the Unbolterizer.**

 **Auto Adjuster 3000 – Never completed as my tools had been stolen.**

* * *

However, what Sonic had witnessed was only half of the list. Further down the list were inventions in which Tails suffered even worse consequences. Some of them caused the team to yell at him, except Sonic, and some of them were prototypes that failed tests and never left the workshop which depressingly sent Tails right back to the drawing board. The final one on the bottom of the list was the Gold Ray which caused the disaster that led to Amy, Knuckles and Sticks beating up Tails in retaliation.

Sonic was stunned. He never imagined that Tails could have this many failures in his inventions. Many of them he had seen in the past had worked out great, so he was absolutely shocked to see about twenty failed inventions, half of which were never to be successful and therefore got Tails in trouble with his team.

After reading through the entire list one more time, he set the paper down and looked at Tails' scrunched face again. Tears were still spilling from the poor fox's eyes, and now Sonic fully understood why he was so sad and depressed, aside from getting beaten up. He had worked so hard on one invention, but it failed, which caused him to rush through another invention, which suffered more dire consequences. It all led up to the Gold Ray incident in which Tails suffered the worst consequences yet.

"I am so sorry, little bro," said Sonic sadly, "If only I had known sooner, maybe I could have found a way to help you get out of this wreck of a situation you're in now."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for, Sonic," replied Tails in between sniffles, "It's all my fault."

Sonic instantly placed his hands on Tails' shoulders, which was enough for him to look up at his big brother and gulp nervously.

"Another thing I won't tolerate is you beating yourself up for all of this that has happened to you. Accidents will happen, Tails. Nobody's perfect," said Sonic coolly.

Tails simply looked into Sonic's emerald green eyes and sat there, deep in thought.

"You've gotta take things one step at a time, little bro," Sonic continued, "Just rushing straight to the next concept after another one fails is not the answer."

Tails gulped again as he nodded his head.

"I know you wanna redeem yourself with the others, little bud, but I think trying to rush straight to the next drawing is not the answer to that problem," said Sonic, "I'm glad you're walking again, but now is not the time to come running back in here, talking to your inventions as if they'll give you advice. I suggest that you head back to the living room, make yourself some lunch, take a nice hot shower and get a nap, okay?"

"I'm on the brink of having an empty kitchen," explained Tails, "Zooey went to the village center to buy us some groceries."

"She's still staying here?" asked a surprised Sonic, managing to hold back a chuckle.

"She said she'd stay here for the week until Sunday, or at least until I'm fully recovered," said Tails.

"That sounds like sisterly motives," commented Sonic, Tails simply rolling his eyes after hearing said comment.

No sooner did they hear a knock on the workshop door, followed by a female voice.

"Hello? Tails, I'm back. I got us some food that will last us the rest of the week," came Zooey's voice.

Sonic immediately sped to the door and opened it, revealing a bright yellow one-tailed fox with a crimson red dress, bracelets and slippers. It was really no wonder Tails had been crushing on this girl before he won her heart.

"Whasup?" asked Sonic in his cool voice.

Zooey sighed and gave Sonic a half-grin.

"Nothing much, Sonic. How about you?" asked Zooey.

"I was just running around at the speed of sound, and out of complete randomness ended up here after daydreaming, and got the word of a tragic story," replied Sonic.

"I take it that Tails told you what happened on Monday," guessed Zooey.

"He did, and I feel very sorry for him," said Sonic in a sympathetic voice, "I really wanna help him out any way I can."

"Me, too," replied Zooey, "I've been staying here these past two days looking after him."

"So he told me. You're more like a sister to him now that I look at it," commented Sonic.

Tails rolled his eyes again as he overheard their conversation.

"Well, I'm his girl now. We may very well be like siblings even though we're only dating," said Zooey.

"I can see it now, 'The Story of the Three Siblings.' Once upon a time, there was a speedy hedgehog who one day got two fox siblings," said Sonic out of amusement.

Tails face-palmed and groaned out of pure embarrassment.

"We ougtha try that out as a three-some someday," added Sonic, striking a break-dancing pose in front of Zooey.

"Ugh!" moaned Tails.

"Okay, Sonic. You're beginning to sound and look just like James Bond," commented Zooey, "That's the perfect example of someone not being himself."

"James Bond, you say?" replied Sonic with a curious look on his face.

"Don't you know who James Bond is?" asked Zooey.

"Of course. Everyone's heard of that famous British secret agent. I would often go to theaters with random people of all kinds just to watch all the action, car chases, etc," said Sonic, "Why do you ask?"

"James Bond never keeps his girls, and the cocky attitude you give towards girls will make you just like him in that way," explained Zooey with a grin.

"Nothing about romance in my future?" said Sonic out of randomness.

"And I thought you weren't even interested in romance," replied Zooey with a light chuckle, "I'm surprised you could be acting this way right now, especially since I'm taken … by your own little brother."

Sonic sighed, feeling defeated.

"I just wanna add some humor to this situation," said Sonic.

"Maybe you could do that by stopping the random flirting. Don't you have some friends to talk to? Our poor little fellow over here needs some emotional help," Zooey reminded him, pointing at a distraught Tails.

Sonic's mind immediately re-engaged to "serious mode" as he looked at the sad state Tails was in.

"Right. I gotta run, guys! See ya later!"

In an instant, Zooey found herself facing a blue trail of smoke which disappeared almost instantly, which at that point Sonic was already gone.

With the famous hedgehog out of the way for the moment, Zooey turned back to her boyfriend, who was trying to choke back some more tears. She sighed sadly as she sat next to him and pulled him in for a comforting hug.

"Sorry about him," she apologized.

"It's okay, Zooey," replied Tails sadly, "He's always been like that. We're used to it by now."

Zooey simply sighed and kept hugging Tails.

"He suggested I have some lunch, take a hot shower and get a nap," Tails added.

"Okay, Tails," replied Zooey, "Let's get you in the house."

Tails tried standing up, but the moment he was in an upright stance, the pain in his chest was once again getting the best of him.

" _Damn it, Knuckles! Why did you have to punch me in the stomach so hard!?"_ thought Tails as he struggled to start walking. Although he had managed to start walking again, he still had a hard time doing so without someone's aid.

Seeing that Tails was about to collapse to the floor, Zooey grabbed her boyfriend and wrapped her arms around his chest before aiding him towards Tails' living room at a very slow pace as she had been doing over the past two days. The poor two-tailed fox groaned and moaned in pain the whole time he walked; Zooey being the only thing keeping him on his feet.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sonic was once again running at his namesake speed through the forest, hoping to meet up with at least one of his friends. There were so many things going on in his mind, now that he had learned about what had happened to Tails.

Hardly a minute later, Sonic was in front of Amy's house, hoping to catch a glimpse of the pink hedgehog. He was thinking of giving her a serious lecture …

* * *

 _ **Well, this prologue may not sound anything like what the title suggests, but trust me, this will eventually lead to what you're anticipating will happen in later chapters. I had to come up with a prologue that seemed somewhat like what had happened to Tails in "A Brotherly Vacation," so that this would fit in as a sequel.**_

 _ **The downside is that I signed up for a summer college class, and it starts on Tuesday, so I may only be able to update on certain days when I'm not busy. Therefore, I hope you can all be patient while waiting for future chapters.**_

 _ **Anyways, don't forget to review, and I'll see you in the next chapter of Sonic and Tails' Day Off!**_


	2. Chapter 1: Some Words to Say

_**Chapter 1**_

 _ **Some Words to Say**_

* * *

Sonic walked up to the door of Amy's house and knocked three times. He almost felt like he could literally burst in there and give Amy a piece of his mind for what she and the others had done to Tails, but he knew better than to be so harsh to any of his teammates.

Eventually, Amy opened the door and was quite shocked to come face-to-face with an angry-looking Sonic. She could tell right away where this was heading.

"Uh, … h-hi, Sonic," the pink hedgehog greeted nervously.

"Hello, _Amy_ ," replied Sonic, dramatically emphasizing her name.

Amy simply stepped aside and allowed Sonic into the house. The blue hedgehog immediately stepped inside before Amy closed the door. What surprised Sonic was that Amy wasn't alone …

Knuckles and Sticks were on Amy's couch, watching a movie. They both took a glance at their leader and noticed his furious look, and they froze out of shock.

Amy grabbed the remote and paused the DVD they were playing before taking a seat on her couch next to Sticks.

"Um, hello," greeted Knuckles.

Sonic leaned his hands against the coffee table in front of the couch and stared at each of his friends with cold glares.

"Uh, what's the scoop?" asked Knuckles.

"I'm sure you all know what the scoop is," replied Sonic.

"Uh," was all Sticks could say.

"I've just been over to Tails' house," Sonic informed them.

The three friends all shared worried glances.

"Yeah, I know those looks," said Sonic, catching them in said act, "I asked Tails what was wrong, and he told me that you brutalized him! I saw the look on his face, and it wasn't pretty at all! His nose is still bleeding, and he can barely walk! I felt rather disturbed by the sight of his facial injuries."

Everyone gasped in horror after hearing that.

"He had used some new weapon he had built on Eggman, and he blasted our homes with it," accused Knuckles.

"And my plants!" added Sticks.

"He was only doing something in self-defense, and you had been supporting him up until you found your homes in a complete mess," Sonic continued, "It only gave you the selfish motive to beat him up! I find no reason in nearly paralyzing him for doing so! How could you all do something like that to MY LITTLE BROTHER!?"

The trio could only stare at Sonic with worried looks. They knew they were in for it now.

"He fainted … mere moments after you left him in the middle of nowhere, and Zooey was the one who had to find him and bring him home. Even now, she's still staying with him and giving him medication and … if I may emphasize … CARRYING HIM TO THE BATHROOM!" Sonic yelled on top of his lungs.

Amy was horrified by those words.

"And to top it all, it happened the day before yesterday, and all day yesterday none of you ever told me!? Why would you not only beat up my brother, but also proceed to not tell me ANYTHING!?" yelled Sonic, "He had to spend a whole day stuck at home without me because you never informed me of what had happened! I could have been over there caring for him had any of you told me what had happened!"

Amy and Sticks looked down to the floor, now feeling guilty for what they had done. Knuckles simply stared off into space.

"What have we done?" said Amy sadly.

"Great! I'll by guilt-stricken for days!" added Sticks.

"It'll be longer than that if you don't apologize to Tails," said Sonic, "I know you've berated him for his previous mishaps, such as slapping him in the face when his Unbolterizer failed."

Sticks looked up at Sonic with guilt written all over her facial expression.

"Yeah, I'm pointing at you, Sticks. I saw you slap him that day, and I did NOT like that!" reminded Sonic, "HE'S … MY … BROTHER, mind you!"

The brown badger gulped.

"This Gold Ray incident on Monday has proven itself a step too far," continued Sonic, "I know you're all angry with Tails, but this brutalization was completely unnecessary and I will never tolerate you … EVER … becoming physically violent towards our little friend. He could be left out of action for probably two weeks given the extent of his injuries … that YOU all gave him! You should all be ashamed of yourselves!"

Amy accidentally let a few tears slip from her eyes. She felt so guilty for what Tails was now going through.

"He's hurt, not just physically, but emotionally. He's embarrassed because his girlfriend has to care for him like a sister, even though she doesn't mind, and he's humiliated," finished Sonic.

"You're right, Sonic," said Amy sadly, "I feel awful. I've … (sniffle) … I've never felt so terrible before in my life."

"What has become of us?" pondered Knuckles.

"I'll never feel the same again," said Sticks, "Why have I had to be so rotten to him so many times? Why have I become so violent!?"

"We'll be so lucky if this doesn't ruin our team reputation," Sonic added, "That's why I want you to do something tonight."

"Anything, Sonic," replied Amy, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I want you all to go to Tails' house tonight and apologize to him, and I'll be there to make sure it happens," Sonic instructed, "He'll remain depressed until it happens. Yet even then, he'll probably remain depressed for a while about his inventions. I'm sure you've really damaged his morale now."

Sonic's three friends immediately nodded their heads in acceptance.

"And one more thing, the next time anything like this happens, please tell me. I don't need my team's secrets to be kept from me when they get this heavy on the scale," added Sonic.

"Yes, Sonic," promised Sticks.

"Now then, I gotta run. My next stop shall be, thanks to _you_ , Tails' place," informed Sonic as he suddenly sped out of the house like a blur.

Amy, Knuckles and Sticks could only sit on the couch, feeling extremely guilt-stricken. They had realized that what they had done to Tails was completely wrong. Now they wondered why they had become so pissed off at their poor fox friend in the first place.

"What have we done?" pondered Amy with a depressing sigh, "What have we done?"

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Tails' house, the two-tailed fox had just finished his lunch and was now taking his hot shower as Sonic had suggested. Zooey was sitting just outside the bathroom door in case her boyfriend stumbled to the floor from chest pain.

Sure enough, hardly a moment later, she heard the sound of Tails moaning in pain then falling to the floor.

The bright yellow fox quickly sprang into action; sprinting across the door only to find a naked Tails struggling to get back up after taking a nasty fall.

"Are you alright, sweetie?" asked Zooey gently.

"No," answered Tails, "I was trying to scrub my forehead with shampoo, but that got my cheeks hurt so bad that I banged against the wall and hurt my chest again. I'm sure you know what happened after that."

Zooey handed the sponge back to Tails and helped him back up to his feet so he could finish scrubbing himself. She then closed the curtain so that he could have some privacy. A minute later, the water had stopped and Tails opened the curtain.

"I don't know if I can step over this without straining my chest," said Tails sadly.

"Here. Allow me," replied Zooey as she wrapped a towel around Tails and gently lifted him out of the tub and onto another towel set on the floor.

"Sweetie, you'd have no idea how embarrassed I feel right now," commented Tails.

"Like I said before, sweetie, I don't mind, … because I love you, and I wanna help you feel better," said Zooey before kissing Tails on the forehead.

Tails grinned and blushed before returning the kiss on his girlfriend's cheek.

"I love you, too," he replied, "I appreciate having a loving girlfriend around to help me at a time like this."

Zooey smiled and helped Tails dry himself off before assisting him out of the bathroom and towards his makeshift bed.

At that moment, there came a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" called Tails.

"It's Sonic, little bro," came the answer behind the door.

"Come in," replied Tails as he made it to his bed.

The door opened, and Sonic sped through the doorway before closing the door behind him.

"How's it hanging, buddy?" he asked Tails, "Had your lunch, shower and everything?"

"Yeah, I have," answered Tails with a sigh.

"Sorry if I'm driving you a little crazy, buddy," apologized Sonic, "Brotherly instincts were kicking in again."

"I know, Sonic. It's okay," replied Tails, "It tells me that I have a caring big brother. For that, I'm happy."

Sonic grinned at Tails and sat next to him on the makeshift bed.

"I'm happy to have a caring little brother, too, Tails," the hedgehog replied.

Tails lied his head down on the pillow while Sonic wrapped the blankets over him to warm him up. The speedster then turned to Zooey.

"Is he doing okay?" he quietly asked her.

"He took a fall while taking his shower, but other than that, he's okay," answered Zooey, "All he'll need now other than his nap will be some dinner this evening, then I'll have to apply the cream to his face again before bed."

"Again?" asked a confused Sonic.

"The bottle says to apply twice a day; once after breakfast and once before going to bed," explained Zooey.

"Oh," said Sonic, understanding.

"Uh, excuse me, guys. I can hear every word of that, and it's embarrassing me even more," complained Tails.

Sonic and Zooey sighed and turned to their poor fox friend.

"Sorry about that, bud. We'll let you rest," said Sonic.

Zooey patted Tails' forehead while Sonic gently held his left hand.

"I assume you'll get me up when dinner is ready?" asked Tails in a tired voice.

"Yup," answered Sonic.

"We'll both be right here watching over you," said Zooey gently, "If you need anything, just give a shout, okay?"

"Okay, guys," replied Tails before yawning, "I love you both."

"We love you, too, little bro," said Sonic with one of his brotherly grins as he and Zooey both kissed Tails' cheeks, "Now why don't you get some shuteye, lil' pal?"

Tails yawned again and turned to the side so that his face could lean against the pillow. He then closed his eyes and slowly snoozed off to sleep.

Sonic promptly stood up and walked into the kitchen. Zooey joined him almost immediately.

"Listen up," whispered Sonic, taking a chair by a window, "I'm gonna need to ask you a favor."

"What is it?" asked Zooey curiously, sitting down on the opposite side of the table.

"I'm gonna have Amy, Knuckles and Sticks over here tonight," answered Sonic.

Zooey only just managed to hold her gasp in so that she wouldn't wake Tails.

"Why would you do that!?" she whispered, "You know what they did to him!"

"Trust me, I gave them a serious lecture," replied Sonic, "I let them know just how angry I can get when anyone lays a finger on my brother."

"And?" said Zooey, "Did they not care?"

"I told them every last detail that could slip out of my mouth, and they all felt guilty. I swear I could hear Amy mouthing 'what have we done' just as I was leaving her house," explained Sonic, "I'm sure they've learned their lesson this time."

"So why are they coming here, then?" asked Zooey.

"I've ordered them to apologize to Tails, and I'll be ensuring that happens," answered Sonic, "If they didn't, then Tails would never forgive himself for what happened Monday. He needs to know that we all like him and appreciate him, and it needs to stay that way. I will not allow my team's reputation to linger because of one small incident. Hell, it wasn't even small."

"Okay," said Zooey, "So, what about the so-called 'favor' you asked me about?"

"I need you not to start getting furious with my teammates while they're here, especially in Tails' presence. It'll only make his situation worse," explained Sonic, "Do you promise?"

Zooey shook Sonic's hand and replied, "You have my word, Sonic."

"Good," the hedgehog replied as he stood up and stretched his limbs, "Still considering that potential three-some someday?"

Zooey chuckled and rolled her eyes, "Shut up, Sonic."

* * *

That evening, Tails showed encouraging signs of improvement. A nap mixed with some medication threw nearly all of his chest pain away, and he no longer needed to have Sonic or Zooey help him walk. However, his nose still bled from time to time, and his cheeks still hurt.

At the moment, the two-tailed fox was finishing his dinner. He had his goggles, gloves and work belt/strap on, but Sonic insisted he kept his shoes and socks off because he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Tails was just taking the last bite of his dinner when the door was knocked on. Knowing that Sonic and Zooey were in the house, and Eggman was still out of commission, he was worried it could be Amy, Knuckles or Sticks. The fox gulped nervously.

Sonic quickly wrapped an arm around his brother's back.

"Don't worry, little bro," the hedgehog whispered in an effort to calm Tails down, "Whatever happens, I'll be right by your side."

"Is it our teammates?" asked Tails nervously.

"I'm sure it is," replied Sonic gently, "I told them everything, so I'm sure they're here to apologize."

"(Gulp) I hope they are," said Tails.

Sonic simply patted Tails' forehead before speeding towards the door.

"Is it you, guys?" the cobalt speedster called through the door.

"Yes. It's us," came Amy's voice from the other side, causing Tails to quiver, trying his best not to flinch.

Zooey sat down and pulled Tails onto her lap just as Sonic opened the door and revealed Amy, Knuckles and Sticks. The yellow fox gulped in fear.

The trio walked in before Sonic closed the door, then they found Tails sitting on Zooey's lap at the kitchen table. They all gasped when they noticed the tiny droplets of blood leaking from his bent nose, the purple spots on his cheeks that had leftover white healing cream (which Tails sarcastically called 'diaper cream') smeared over them, and the purplish-shaded bandage over his chest.

"Oh, Chaos!" whispered Amy.

"Did we really do that much to him?" Knuckles asked himself.

"Yes, you did," answered Sonic, "I wasn't sure if I had convinced you at first, but I'm sure you're convinced now."

Amy then noticed a piece of paper lying on the dining table with Tails' handwriting on it. She read through the entire sheet several times before realizing what it was. It was the list of failed inventions that Tails had written down, and she registered that a number of these failures came from rushing through them as a result of one incident, and it all led up to the Gold Ray incident two days ago, like a chain reaction.

"Wow," whispered Amy in shock, "I had no idea."

"It was all self-defense, then suddenly out of nowhere you didn't care anymore," accused Tails, "All I wanted was to get back at Eggman after he made fun of my two tails, which no one tolerates, but all you did in return was this!"

The fox pointed to his bloody nose and beaten cheeks.

Sticks sighed sadly and tried her best not to cry. Knuckles looked away out of guilt.

"I couldn't take my shower without crashing to the floor!" added Tails, "All of this because I wrecked your homes with my stupid Gold Ray!? Some friends you tend to be!"

Amy let a tear slip from her left eye.

"I didn't know what I was thinking when I found my house a mess," she said sadly, "I should have taken more time to consider that it really wasn't your fault."

"Me, too," agreed Knuckles, "Anything in my place is easily replaceable."

"And I can always replant my orchard," finished Sticks.

"I guess," sighed Tails.

"Anyways," said Sonic, "I think you three all owe Tails a sincere and formal apology, not just for what happened Monday, but as you can see by this piece of paper, all the other times you've berated him for what he was simply trying to do to make things easier for us."

The trio finally gave in and slowly walked up to Tails. The fox tried his best not to glare at them. His teeth were shaking inside his mouth as if he were quivering, not from fear but from anger.

Finally, Amy spoke up …

"We're all really sorry, Tails. We've caused you such tremendous pain and suffering that wasn't necessary."

"We were just so upset and our minds went blind," added Knuckles.

"We were in a hurry to blame someone immediately," put in Sticks.

"If anyone's to blame, it's Eggman. He should never have said that about you. We can't blame you for blasting him like that. It was very wrong for us to blame you. It was especially wrong for us to turn you into the emotional mess you're in now," finished Amy, "We're all extremely sorry, Tails."

Tails nearly burst into tears as he listened to their words. They sounded so sincere for three people whom had just turned him into a big mess a little over 48 hours ago.

"D-Do you really m-mean that?" the fox asked nervously.

"We're not the lying type, Tails," answered Knuckles.

"We understand now that you're only trying to help us, and we appreciate that," said Amy kindly.

Tails managed to show a faint grin after hearing that.

"Ahem," said Sonic, "Also, I want you to swear to us that nobody will ever smack Tails in the face again. That's what really got me pissed off."

"Yes," agreed Sticks, "I'd especially like to apologize to you for slapping you in the face so many times, and I promise to never do it again as long as I live."

"Me, too," said Knuckles.

"Yes, I'm just as guilty for that, too," added Amy, "We swear that it'll never happen again."

"Really?" asked Tails.

"Really," replied Amy sincerely.

Tails grinned at his friends, and they all grinned back at him, including Sonic, who winked at his little brother.

"Can we do a group hug?" offered Amy.

"I don't think Tails is in a condition for group hugs again just yet, Amy," answered Sonic, "He'll need more recovery time first."

The pink hedgehog sighed sadly.

"Well, I hope we can do those again soon," she said, "It'll be great once you get back in action, Tails."

"Thanks, everyone," said Tails, "I really appreciate it."

"Can you forgive us, Tails?" asked Knuckles.

"I can forgive you if you can forgive me," answered Tails.

"We forgive you, Tails," replied Sticks.

With that, Amy, Knuckles and Sticks each shook hands with their fox friend, therefore mending their bond.

"Okay, everyone," said Sonic, "Now that we've made up and everyone's friends again, let's put this nasty business behind us and hopefully learn from our mistakes."

"Oh, we will," promised Sticks.

"Good," replied Sonic.

"How's it going, Zooey?" Amy asked her close friend.

"I will admit, it's been quite nice hanging out here with my Tailsy," replied Zooey, making Tails blush in embarrassment.

"Aww! Zooey, stop!" groaned Tails with a forced grin.

Everyone laughed, even Tails.

"Anyways, we'd better get going," said Amy, "Got a little tidying up to do."

"Yeah," added Knuckles, "See ya later, Tails."

"Hope you get better soon," finished Sticks as the trio headed out the door and disappeared, closing the door behind them.

"Feeling any better, little bro?" asked Sonic as he knelt in front of Tails and Zooey.

"Emotionally, I feel a little better," answered Tails, "I'm happy that everyone was able to forgive me."

"And they know it wasn't your fault, little buddy," added Sonic, holding hands with his brother, "The most important thing is that everyone's getting along again."

The three of them all shared smiles with each other before Sonic proceeded to wink at Tails, earning a happy chuckle from the little fox.

"Anyways, it's almost bedtime," said Zooey.

"Oh, great! More diaper cream!" said Tails sarcastically.

Sonic sighed.

"It's not really diaper cream, is it, Zooey?" the hedgehog asked, wanting to be sure that Tails was only being sarcastic.

"It isn't," answered Zooey, "It's simple healing cream."

"Then, why do you call it diaper cream, little bro?" Sonic asked Tails while laughing.

"For one thing, it's white, it looks somewhat like whipped cream mixed with shaving cream, and also she has to cover my entire muzzle with it. I have to sit still for five minutes, unable to speak. It's just embarrassing!" complained Tails.

"I may need your help with this, Sonic," said Zooey.

Sonic stood up and gave Tails a strange grin.

"I think I know why," he said with a mischievous voice, "You can't sit still for five minutes, can you, ya silly little fox!?"

"Oh, Sonic!" replied Tails, blushing.

"C'mon, bro. Let's get you into the bathroom!" chuckled Sonic.

Tails was about to rush towards his bed, but his big brother grabbed him by the chest before he could escape.

"Not so fast, lil' guy!" laughed Sonic as he dragged his little brother towards the bathroom.

Tails could only sigh and sink his head, feeling defeated.

"We've had a hard time the last four times we've done this procedure," explained Zooey as the three entered the bathroom, "He wouldn't sit still for the required five minutes before it was time to wash the cream off."

"I assume you'll want me to place him on my lap and hold him still?" guessed Sonic.

"Correct," replied Zooey.

"Where should we sit?" asked Sonic.

Zooey lowered the toilet seat so that it could be used like a real seat.

"This will do," she said.

"No problem," said Sonic, "I've got a good sitting record."

Zooey laughed her head off as she opened the medicine cupboard and pulled out a white bottle of cream.

"Zooey, you already know how embarrassing it is for me, and now you're gonna get Sonic involved in this thing?" Tails complained.

"Well, he is your big brother, after all," said Zooey, "Given that he loves you as a brother, he really wants to help you get better."

"She's right, little buddy," added Sonic as he sat down on the toilet seat and wrapped his arms tightly around Tails' chest and arms so that he couldn't move, "I don't mind having to watch this."

"Please don't, guys," moaned Tails.

Zooey knelt in front of the two brothers with the bottle in one hand and a brush in the other.

"You know it's the only way, sweetie," she said kindly.

Tails just pouted in response.

"Hey, don't be giving us that attitude or else I'll have to tickle ya to get you to stop," Sonic threatened playfully.

Tails gulped with wide eyes.

"That sounds fun, but he does need to stay completely still, Sonic," Zooey reminded.

"Aw, crap. I was looking forward to some tickling," said Sonic sadly.

"Ha! I think I won that time, big bro!" teased Tails.

Sonic and Zooey both gave him more mischievous grins, making Tails gulp again.

"If you don't hold still, Tails, I won't kiss you for the rest of this week," threatened Zooey.

" _No kisses from my sweet girl for the rest of the week!?"_ thought Tails with wide eyes of shock, _"How can I live with that!?"_

"Either way, Tails, it's one thing or the other. Either we get this over with, or it's tickling with no kisses, romantic or brotherly," said Sonic.

With that, Tails finally gave in and sighed despondently.

"Okay, guys. You win," he pouted.

Seeing that Tails' attitude was testing them again, Sonic proceeded to tickle Tails' face with one hand, making the fox giggle.

"This oughta get ya to stop," said Sonic mischievously before he stopped with the tickling.

Tails was left giggling in ticklishness for about thirty seconds, earning a chuckle from Zooey. She thought Tails looked cute when he laughed.

Finally, the female fox brought the brush up against her boyfriend's right cheek and started lathering him with the healing cream, being sure to cover the entire bruise before doing the same to his left cheek. Then, she removed the bandage from Tails' nose and placed some cream on it. The two-tailed fox stopped giggling and turned silent before Zooey covered most of his mouth with some more cream. The cream appeared to leave a small space shaped like a miniature smile by the time Zooey stopped and put the cream away.

"Now let's see if you are actually patient enough to sit still for five minutes this time, now that Sonic is with us," teased Zooey.

Tails could feel his cheeks blushing in pure embarrassment, but due to the cream covering his entire muzzle, neither Sonic nor Zooey could notice it.

Overtime, the cream on his injured nose dripped down and covered over the small "smiling" spot left by Zooey, which nearly covered Tails' entire mouth, making him feel more embarrassed.

Zooey knelt in front of Tails again and gave him a sympathetic look while patting his legs, while Sonic maintained his tight grip on his little brother and gently patted him on the forehead and chest to comfort him. The fox simply sat there on Sonic's lap and let out a small sad sigh as he allowed his two friends to cradle him. All he could do was let out muffled moans of sadness and embarrassment.

Poor Tails.

"Ssh. It's okay, little bro," whispered Sonic gently, sensing that Tails was trying not to cry again, "We'll get through this."

"We know how you feel, sweetie," added Zooey, "We're sorry that you have to go through this."

Tails did his best to relax for his brother and girlfriend, but he still felt very uncomfortable not being able to speak to them at all. This only added to his emotional depression.

"Aww, poor Tails," said Sonic with a sad sigh, feeling sorry for his little brother.

"Aww, my Tailsy," added Zooey sadly.

Tails simply nodded his head with a muffled moan and laid back against Sonic's chest with a sad sigh, earning sympathetic looks from Sonic and Zooey as they gave him comforting hugs. They could clearly see that their poor companion was trying his best not to cry. One tear did escape from each of Tails' eyes, but Sonic and Zooey gently wiped them off so they wouldn't get on the healing cream.

"Please don't cry, Tails," said Sonic in a comforting tone, "It'll be okay. We're here for you."

Eventually, those five silent, comforting yet embarrassing minutes ticked by, and Zooey grabbed a cup and filled it with water from the sink. Then, she grabbed a bucket and placed it on Tails' lap.

"Almost done, sweetie," soothed Zooey as Tails closed his eyes, knowing what was coming next.

Sure enough, Zooey pressed the cup's brim against Tails' face between his eyes and slowly turned it to its side. Tails suddenly felt water running down his face and eliminating the cream from his nose and mouth. After what felt like so long, the fox could breathe through his nose again, having only been able to breathe through the small opening of his mouth that the cream hadn't covered.

Then, Zooey poured more water on Tails' cheeks to eliminate what was left of the cream, which all went splashing down into the bucket on his lap. The kitsune managed to get a glance at himself in the mirror. The cheek bruises were unfortunately still visible, although not as visible as they were five minutes ago. Also, as had happened in their previous procedures, some areas of Tails' muzzle still had cream on them. It was never easy trying to eliminate **all** of the cream once his face had been lathered.

Finally, Zooey wrapped another bandage around Tails' nose and washed some more nose bleed stains off his muzzle, along with some of what was still left of the healing cream.

"Can I speak again now?" asked Tails sarcastically.

"Yes, you can," replied Zooey with a playful chuckle.

"See, that wasn't so bad, little bro," added Sonic, grinning.

"I was blushing the whole time that babyish stuff was on my face, but you couldn't notice," said Tails sadly.

"We understand, little bro, but we gotta do what we gotta do so that you'll be looking strong again," reminded Sonic.

"I know, big bro," sighed Tails.

Zooey planted a kiss on each of Tails' cheeks and his forehead before taking the bucket, while Sonic stood up, still holding his little brother tightly in a hug.

"Ya think you can let me go now?" asked Tails.

"Nah! I'm in the mood for some brotherly fun!" answered Sonic mischievously.

With that, Sonic kept holding Tails with one hand while using his other hand to nudge his brother's forehead.

"AH!" yelled Tails as he felt Sonic giving him a nudge, "Hey! No fair! Lemme go!"

"Don't think so!" replied Sonic as he continued nudging the fox's forehead.

Tails suddenly started laughing from Sonic's so-called "Brotherly Noogie." It made him feel somewhat ticklish at times.

"Staahahahahahahahop!" laughed Tails, "Keeheeheeheeheeheehehehehehehahahahahahaaa!"

"Maybe if you promise to bring your attitude back up," replied Sonic as he carried his brother out of the bathroom and towards his bed.

"Okahahahahahay! I prohohohomihihihihihise!" giggled Tails, "Pleeeeeheeheeheeheeheeheeheease!"

"That's my good little brother!" chuckled Sonic as he stopped nudging the fox's head.

Tails struggled to catch his breath as he sat down on his makeshift bed.

"That … was … crazy!" he panted.

"Well, what else could I do?" excused Sonic, "You've gotta be patient at times like these."

"I know," sighed Tails, "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize, little bro," said Sonic as he sat down next to Tails, "Zooey and I both know how bad you feel."

Tails sighed as he removed his goggles.

"Well, aside from what we were doing in the bathroom just now, the other thing that's gotten me feeling down is that I don't know what to do with myself right now," Tails admitted, "I'm just not sure if I should even bother going into my workshop tomorrow after this most recent incident."

"I understand, Tails," said Sonic kindly.

The hedgehog gently hugged his little brother just as Zooey emerged from the bathroom.

"Maybe you should take a day off," she suggested, "Get some time out of the house and enjoy the great outdoors."

"Ya know, Zooey, that sounds like a wonderful idea," agreed Sonic.

"Taking a day off?" said a confused Tails.

"Yeah," said Sonic, "I think you and I should just spend a little brotherly time together."

Tails could tell where this was going …

* * *

 _ **Yep! Now it's starting to feel a lot like it's predecessor! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and the humor I thought I'd add to it! I originally wasn't planning to make this chapter very long, but it just so happened to turn out that way. Even I think I may have slightly embarrassed myself with that "healing cream" scene.**_

 _ **It will probably be a while before I'm able to update again, since my summer class session begins tomorrow, so please be patient … for me. I'd greatly appreciate it.**_

 _ **Don't forget to review, and I'll be back soon with the next chapter! ;)**_

 _ **Oh, and to all my fellow Americans out there, happy Fourth of July! XD**_


	3. Chapter 2: Preparations

_**Hi, everyone. Sorry it took me a few days. I ended up getting a tricky assignment right on the first day of my summer session at college! The next six weeks are gonna be rough.**_

 _ **Anyways, here's where things start to get interesting.**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 2**_

 _ **Preparations**_

* * *

Their words echoed around his head. He could sense history repeating itself. Nothing could have prepared him for what he would hear from his big brother …

" _I think you and I should just spend a little brotherly time together."_

Tails looked at Sonic with widened eyes. He was very surprised to hear those words, and he knew where they were heading with this conversation.

"Sonic, … are you saying that we should take another one of those brotherly vacations?" asked Tails.

Sonic pulled his little brother back onto his lap and smiled at him.

"I wouldn't call it a vacation exactly," he replied, "I was just thinking that you and I should take a day off and go exploring Bygone Island together. Just you and me with nobody else around."

"Really?" said a surprised Tails.

"Sure thing, pal!" said Sonic, giving Tails another "brotherly noogie" on his forehead, making the fox giggle once more from ticklishness.

"I think it's a good idea," agreed Zooey, "You deserve to take a day off after everything you've been through."

"Why not kill some spare time, lil' buddy?" added Sonic, "You gotta spend some time away from your tools and take in that fresh outdoor scent. It could do your world a good."

Tails pondered over their words, wanting to be sure if this was a good idea.

"Well, … um, … I-I don't know, guys," the kitsune answered, "I've just been feeling so down lately that sometimes I can't tell if I'm in the mood for something or not."

Sonic sighed and patted his brother's forehead in a comforting manner.

"I take it this is a simple diagnosis," the cobalt hedgehog commented.

"What are you talking about?" Tails asked his big brother.

Zooey sat next to the two boys and held hands with Tails.

"You're depressed," she said.

"It's easy to tell, lil' bro," agreed Sonic, "This latest incident has taken control of your emotions. You've been sad a lot over the past two days, you only blamed yourself for this latest incident, and you let the resulting beating take away all of your self-confidence. Therefore, you can't think of any kick-ass inventions these days."

"Haven't you ever considered taking a break every now and then, sweetie?" asked Zooey.

Those words brought Tails back to the warm memories of his brotherly vacation with Sonic.

"I did … one time," recalled Tails, grinning up at Sonic, "We had such a good time, didn't we, big bro?"

"We sure did, little bro," replied Sonic, returning the warm grin, "We'll never forget that vacation. It was like we could have all the privacy we ever wanted."

Tails sighed in remembrance of their vacation … and how it had ended.

"It's too bad Eggman had to drag us back here before we had even planned to come home," the fox said sadly.

"True, but think about it, Tails. Eggman's not stopping us this time around. His evil schemes are in the vacuum of nothingness for at least a few weeks," said Sonic.

Tails instantly sprang back to his memory of blasting Eggman with his Gold Ray just two days ago, only for him to wreck everyone's homes, which resulted in Amy, Knuckles and Sticks giving him a beating plus a bloody nose; all of which led to his depression the poor fox was now suffering from.

"Please don't bring that up again," begged Tails, "I'm still trying to forget this incident. For Chaos' sake, my nose still hasn't recovered from that!"

"Sonic, I think you should reconsider your choice of words," said Zooey as she glared coldly at the blue hedgehog.

Sonic immediately realized he had said something that had upset Tails. He sighed despondently and patted his brother's legs.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that," the hedgehog spoke softly.

"It's okay, Sonic. I'm not mad at you," replied Tails, "I just wish I could find a way to get over what has happened to me lately. Do you think I'm even in a condition to be outdoors for hours at a time?"

"Of course you are, Tails," said Sonic, "I've never let a broken nose stop me from blasting off to the middle of nowhere."

"Really?" said Tails.

"Really," answered Sonic.

"Besides, maybe after a good night's sleep your nose will be all better," said Zooey.

"And what if it isn't?" asked Tails worryingly.

"We'll just medicate you in the morning, and you and Sonic can be on your way," answered Zooey.

"I'll accept any medication you give me as long as it's not the diaper cream!" said Tails.

Sonic and Zooey chuckled at him.

"Since when did all your happiness get replaced with sarcasm?" commented Sonic.

"That's another thing!" added Tails, glaring at his brother and girlfriend, "What if someone sees the condition of my nose? What if someone notices that I've got that white stuff on my face!? People will laugh at me and be under the impression I'm wearing part of a creamy diaper all over my face!"

Sonic and Zooey just laughed.

"First of all, it's not diaper cream, Tails," laughed Sonic, "How many times do we have to get that through your head?"

An annoyed Tails could only pout.

"Secondly, we can always try hanging out at all the places on this island that are far from town. There won't be any civilians laughing at you, and I'm sure they wouldn't want to laugh at you. They'd probably feel sorry for you, … and I'm being dead serious here," put in Sonic.

The anger washed away from Tails' face and replaced itself with curiosity.

"How many places do you think we might go to?" the fox asked.

"I'll make that up to you, little bro," replied Sonic, "After all, I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this for you."

"And in case you start to feel any pain, I'll give you a few pills to take with you only when you need them," added Zooey, "I'm sure a painless day off should be the thing for you."

Tails looked thoughtfully at his big brother and pondered at all the possibilities of where they could head off to and have fun.

"You look pretty deep in thought," said Sonic softly.

"I think I've made my decision, Sonic," said Tails.

"And?" the cobalt speedster replied.

With that, Tails smiled at his brother and answered …

"I'm in."

Sonic smiled back at Tails, feeling delighted that his little brother had decided to take a day off after all.

"Alright, Tails! I'm so happy to hear that!" the hedgehog chuckled.

"Were you saying that we should do this tomorrow?" asked Tails.

"Yup!" answered Sonic, "First thing tomorrow morning; we'll have breakfast, give you your morning pain medicine, pack some lunches and some of our little gadgets, and we'll be on our way!"

"Hehe! Sounds great!" chuckled Tails.

"I'm so happy that you decided to do this! This will really help you feel a whole lot better!" said Zooey happily, kissing Tails' cheek.

Tails blushed and returned the kiss on his girlfriend's cheek, then he turned back to Sonic.

"Sonic, do you mind if I ask you this?" the fox asked.

"What is it, lil' bro?" replied Sonic.

"Can Zooey come with us, too? Please?" begged Tails.

Sonic patted his brother's head and turned to face Tails' girlfriend.

"Do you wanna come, Zooey? Or would you rather stay here and keep Tails' house in good shape while we're gone?" offered Sonic.

"Weren't you originally planning for it to be just a brotherly day off for two?" put in Zooey.

"I was, but if Tails insists, I'll give you the third slot up for grabs," said Sonic.

"Please, Zooey, please!?" Tails begged again, "I know what it's like to have a relaxing vacation with just my loving big brother by my side, but now I wanna have my sweet girlfriend along, too. Can we do a threesome? Please?"

Zooey sighed and looked into Tails' baby blue eyes which looked like they were desperate for her. She could recall seeing that look in his eyes one time when the cute boy was crushing on her. Now that they had their romantic relationship in full swing, she found his eyes to be irresistible, as if declining something from him would make her regret doing so. Tails saw Zooey as his love angel just as much as he relied on Sonic being his big brother.

Eventually, the yellow vixen gave her boyfriend a light kiss on the forehead and replied, "I'll come with you."

Tails instantly wrestled himself out of Sonic's lap and hugged his girlfriend tightly while giving her many kisses. Sonic smiled at the happy sight of the two lovers having a romantic moment.

"Okay, then. Threesome it is," the hedgehog announced as he opened up Tails' blankets and tapped his brother's shoulder to get his attention.

"Yeah?" responded Tails.

"It's time ta hit the hey, little bro," said Sonic, "You'll need plenty of energy tomorrow for the outdoors."

"Thank you so much, Sonic!" said Tails eccentrically as he grabbed his brother and turned their moment into a group hug, "I'm so happy you invited Zooey to come along! It'll be great having two of the most loving people in my life tagging along! I can't wait for tomorrow!"

Sonic and Zooey laughed at Tails' excitement.

"Okay, little bro," chuckled Sonic, "We're both happy for you, too, but for now I think it's time we all got some sleep."

Tails reluctantly pulled away from their group hug and took off his work belt and shoulder strap.

"I'm sorry, bro. It's just that … this plan we've got for tomorrow has gotten me so excited," said Tails.

"I'm so glad, sweetie," replied Zooey, "This will really help you get out of your depression."

"I agree," said Sonic, "It will be fun."

Tails lied down on his bed, resting his head against the pillow while Sonic covered the blankets over him.

"Time to get some shuteye so that we can get ready for tomorrow," whispered Sonic.

"Okay, big bro," replied Tails with a yawn.

"You've just about worn yourself out with your little burst of excitement," commented Sonic.

The three all shared laughs before Sonic kissed Tails' cheek in brotherly love, followed by a romantic kiss on Tails' other cheek by Zooey.

"Sonic, you're the best brother I could ask for, … and Zooey, you're the sweetest girl I've ever known," whispered Tails with a cute grin, "I love you both."

Sonic and Zooey both cuddled Tails in loving fashion, replying, "We love you, too, Tails," simultaneously.

"Sweet dreams, little bro," whispered Sonic.

"Sweet dreams, big bro," Tails replied before turning to Zooey, "Sweet dreams to you, too, sweetie."

"Sweet dreams, Tailsy," replied Zooey.

"Goodnight," Tails managed to whisper before closing his eyes.

"Goodnight," replied Sonic and Zooey as they patted Tails' head one more time before leaving him to settle down to sleep.

Once they were sure that their little fox friend was fast asleep, Sonic and Zooey stood up and each took a seat on the two sofas.

"I can sense it happening now," Sonic said to himself.

"Sense what happening?" asked Zooey curiously.

"The story of the 'Threesome'," replied Sonic cheekily.

Zooey chuckled as if she was annoyed yet somewhat found it funny.

"That'll be the day," she said, "Besides, it wouldn't make sense because Tails and I are … 'dating'."

"Still, … sounds like a heartwarming story for the future," added Sonic.

Zooey sighed and covered herself up in a blanket.

"Goodnight, Sonic."

Sonic simply laughed at his own joke and grabbed a blanket for his own before settling down to sleep as well, leaving the house in silence for the night.

* * *

The next morning, Sonic got up at 6 a.m. sharp. He always got up this early in the morning for one simple reason …

… his morning exercise.

Without a moment's hesitation, Sonic sped to the door and ran out into the forest at his supersonic speed to begin his morning exercise.

Zooey woke up about half an hour later. As she stretched her arms, she was surprised to see an empty spot and an open blanket on the sofa where Sonic had slept. She looked at the door and found that it was closed. She deduced that the hedgehog was up and about, being his usual self again.

The vixen walked over to the window by Tails' bed, where the two-tailed fox was still sleeping, and she took a moment to gaze at the ocean, listening to the calm sound of the waves crashing into the shore just a few yards away. She was amazed that waves never crashed into the house during storms, especially considering that it was only a few yards off the coastline. She imagined that it was probably because Tails had built a protective field around the house that would deploy during storms.

A little while later, just as Tails' clock was about to strike seven, the front door opened and in stepped Sonic. Zooey turned just in time to see Sonic close the door.

"Where have you been?" she asked him in a whisper so as not to wake Tails.

"I was doing my morning exercise," replied Sonic, "I do that every morning. It's part of my daily routine."

The vixen nodded in understanding and turned to Tails' bed, where her boyfriend remained fast asleep.

"He still asleep?" asked Sonic as he approached the makeshift bed.

"Yeah," said Zooey, "We'll give him a little more time to rest, then we'll get him up."

"I'm sure he'll need a lot of rest after everything he's been through. Poor guy," said Sonic sympathetically.

"I'm just glad your team has forgiven him," said Zooey, "If it weren't for that, he'd still be in tears right now."

"Definitely," replied Sonic, "I've known him for a long time. He can be shy and naive at times, which can lead to occasional mishaps that affect his emotions. That's why I take a big responsibility for being his big brother, looking after him and making sure he doesn't get hurt. He thinks that I get overprotective with him sometimes, but he's able to get through."

"Sounds like you two have been through a lot together," commented Zooey.

"Oh, we have," answered Sonic.

Suddenly, Tails' phone was heard ringing in the kitchen. Sonic and Zooey gasped as they were nearly startled by the sudden noise.

"Quickly!" whispered Zooey, "Answer that before it wakes up Tails!"

Sonic didn't need to be told twice. He instantly zipped to the phone and answered it.

"Hello?" he spoke in a whisper.

"Hi, Sonic! Is that you?" came Amy's voice on the other side.

"Hi, Ames. It's me," replied Sonic.

"Why are you whispering?" asked Amy.

"Tails is still asleep right now. I think you'll be lucky if you didn't wake him, but even if he does wake up, I forgive you for it," explained Sonic.

"Whoops. Sorry. Didn't know he was still sleeping," Amy apologized.

"Anyways, what's the scoop?" asked Sonic, sitting down at the dining table.

"I heard that they've got some wild event going on at the village center today!" announced Amy, "Do you and Tails wanna come?"

Sonic sighed, feeling uninterested.

"Actually, Amy, that sounds like fun and all, but we've got other plans," said Sonic.

"Other plans? What do you have going on?" asked Amy curiously.

"I'm giving myself and Tails the day off," answered Sonic, "Zooey and I suggested doing so, and he accepted the offer. He needs some time away from his workshop before we get into another mishap."

Sonic could hear Amy sigh sadly.

"I still feel bad for what happened the other day," she said.

"Amy, that's behind us now. The past is the past, and we can't undo it. All we can do now is focus on the future and what's ahead of us."

At that moment, the hedgehog heard a yawn coming from Tails, indicating that he was waking up. He turned to see Zooey patting her boyfriend's forehead as he yawned and stretched his arms.

"Good morning, Tailsy," soothed Zooey.

"Good morning, sweetie," replied Tails tiredly.

"I'm curious. Is there anything going on this weekend?" Sonic asked Amy on the phone just as he heard a gasp behind him, assuming it was Zooey, "Could you hold on a moment, Amy? I'll be right there."

Sonic covered the phone's receiver with his hand so Amy couldn't hear them.

"How is he?" he asked Zooey.

"His nose is bleeding again," she answered sadly.

"How long ago?" asked Sonic as he caught a glance of red underneath Tails' nose.

"Looks like it started bleeding about ten minutes ago," said Zooey as she examined how much blood was on Tails' sheets.

Sonic sighed despondently as he looked sadly at his little brother. There was, indeed, blood underneath his nose, and the bruises on his cheeks were still partially visible. Tails turned to see Sonic, and they exchanged sympathetic glances as Zooey helped Tails out of bed. The cobalt hedgehog then uncovered the receiver.

"Amy, I'm gonna have to call you back," said Sonic with a hint of disappointment in his voice, "Zooey just called me for help."

"Is it Tails?" asked Amy.

"His nose is bleeding again," said Sonic, "He got a nosebleed in his sleep."

"Oh, Chaos!" shrieked Amy, "How horrible! I am so sorry to hear that!"

"Listen, I gotta go now, Amy," said Sonic.

"Okay, Sonic. Tell Tails we're rooting for him to get better," said Amy.

"Will do. Bye, Ames," replied Sonic.

"Bye, Sonic," said Amy before Sonic ended the call and hung up the phone.

The hedgehog dashed to Tails' bed and patted the poor fox's head.

"Morning, Tails. Are you okay?" he asked sympathetically.

"Other than my nosebleed, I'm okay," answered Tails sadly, "All I can smell right now is my own blood."

"We can fix that," replied Sonic, wrapping an arm around Tails' back and bringing him up to his feet, "Come on, lil' bro. Let's get you to the bathroom."

"Does this mean we'll have to do that stupid diaper cream procedure before I've even had my breakfast?" groaned Tails.

"Of course not, sweetie," replied Zooey, "We're just gonna stop the bleeding and take care of your nose, then we'll have breakfast."

"Thank Chaos!" shouted Tails.

But his hopes were short-lived …

"We're still doing the cream procedure after breakfast, though," added Zooey.

"Aww, crap!" pouted Tails.

"C'mon, little buddy. Let's stop that bleeding," said Sonic as the three entered Tails' bathroom.

Tails stepped in front of his sink with Sonic hugging him from behind to comfort him, while Zooey grabbed a piece of toilet paper and applied a few drops of water from the sink faucet along with some other substance which Sonic assumed to be medicine that was to be applied by rubbing against the skin.

"Okay, Tails. This might sting a little," said Zooey gently as she removed the bandage from Tails' nose, "Just try to stay calm, okay?"

"I'll try," replied Tails nervously.

"It'll be okay, bro. I've gotcha," whispered Sonic, "You'll be okay."

"As long as I know you're hugging me the whole time, Sonic, I'll feel brave enough to get through this," replied Tails.

"That's my bro," said Sonic happily, kissing Tails' forehead in brotherly love.

"Okay, Tails. Hold still," said Zooey as she brought the toilet paper to Tails' nose.

Tails instantly felt a sharp sting of pain in his face as his girlfriend rubbed his injured nose with the rubbing alcohol. The fox shut his eyes and panted in pain.

"Ow! Ugh!" the poor fox cried.

"Ssh. It's okay, Tails. It's okay," soothed Sonic's voice right above Tails' head.

Tears poured from Tails' eyes as the physical pain continued to torture him.

"It's alright, lil' bro," Sonic kept soothing his brother, "I gotcha. It's okay."

In almost no time the bleeding stopped, and Zooey stopped rubbing Tails' nose. The area underneath was all clean again and, to Sonic and Zooey's relief, his nose appeared to be nearly straightened, indicating that it was almost completely healed.

"Hey, your nose is almost all better," said Zooey happily, "It looks nice and almost straight again."

"Then why was it still bleeding this morning?" asked a greatly confused Tails.

"Probably a side effect from the healing process," guessed Sonic, "Maybe this could be the last time it bleeds."

"I hope so," said Tails, sounding rather depressed, "I don't wanna have another nosebleed while we're out in the wilderness of Bygone Island today."

"Don't worry, Tails," said Zooey soothingly, "In case it happens again, we'll bring the first aid kit with us, and _if_ it happens again we'll be ready for it."

Tails sighed sadly as he stared into his own reflection in the mirror.

"Hey, why the long face, little buddy?" asked Sonic gently, "This should be good news for you."

"I'm sorry, Sonic," sighed Tails, "It's just that I'm still trying to get over this catastrophe."

Sonic and Zooey sighed sadly. They knew Tails still needed some more time to get over the Gold Ray incident before he could fight off his emotional depression.

"We understand, Tails," said Zooey, "We'll eventually put this behind us. For now, why don't we have some breakfast? I got you a box of your favorite cereal at the village store yesterday."

Suddenly, Tails' ears perked up and a broad grin was plastered on his face, earning chuckles from Sonic and Zooey.

"You mean, Cocoa Rings!?" the kitsune asked excitedly.

"Yep!" answered Zooey.

"YIPPEE!" shouted Tails as he broke out of Sonic's hug and scurried out of the bathroom.

Sonic laughed his head off watching his brother jump out of the room.

"He must really love Cocoa Rings," commented Zooey as she left the bathroom with Sonic right behind her.

"Oh, he does! You should have seen him that one time we had breakfast at the Station Square Hotel. He had a bowl of Cocoa Rings with a mint shake on the side, and he went hyper after we left the city. He was happily jumping around me with a smile plastered on his face for a while when we visited Windy Hill later that morning! He looked just like an excited little puppy, and his smiles were among the cutest on Mobius!" said Sonic, recalling another memory from their brotherly vacation.

At that moment, Tails emerged with his socks, shoes, gloves and work belt/shoulder strap on.

"Wasn't that the sugar rush that ended with the rabbit getting us into a tickling match?" the fox recalled as he put his goggles on over his forehead and sat down at the dining table.

"If I remember, I had just about calmed you down by the time we stopped by a tree, and-" Sonic began before Tails recalled the rest of what happened that morning.

"Oh yeah! Then the rabbit started tickling me with its ears while we were hugging each other under the morning sun, and we started tickling each other just as a brotherly tease for laughs! It was such a cuddly morning as far as I can remember!" Tails finished.

The two brothers shared laughs and smiles as they recalled that warm, memorable day. Zooey smiled as she listened to their story. Now she felt glad she was going along with them today.

" _Maybe I might just get a glimpse of what they like to do together whenever they're on their own adventures,"_ she thought to herself as she opened the cupboard.

The bright yellow vixen pulled out an average-sized cereal bowl and a box of Cocoa Rings she had bought yesterday, and placed them on the table. Tails' eyes grew wide with excitement and he licked his lips like an adorable child.

The two-tailed fox watched as, slowly but surely, the Cocoa Rings were poured into the bowl, followed by some milk that lifted the miniature Rings up to the brim of the bowl.

Finally, Zooey slid the bowl in front of Tails and handed him a spoon. In an instant, Tails dug the spoon into his bowl and took a bite of his chocolate breakfast. His tongue was treated to the delightful taste of milk and chocolate mixed together like a dream in his mind as he chewed the cereal before swallowing.

Zooey chuckled while Sonic laughed. They adored the sight of Tails enjoying his breakfast. Sonic only hoped that Tails wouldn't go into another hyper sugar rush like he did when he ate that same cereal during their 'brotherly' vacation.

Aside from Tails gulping down his cereal in just three minutes, for breakfast Sonic helped himself to a chili dog while Zooey ate part of a melon.

Ten minutes later, all three of them had finished their breakfast, then the phone rang again.

"Is that Amy trying to call me back?" asked Sonic.

"I don't know. I'll check," replied Tails as he walked over to his phone.

The fox grabbed the phone and answered, "Hello?"

"Hi there, Tails," answered Amy.

"Hi, Amy," replied Tails.

"Are you feeling alright? I heard you had a nosebleed this morning," said Amy worryingly.

"I'm okay. Got a sting from the rubbing alcohol, but I'm okay," said Tails.

"Oh, thank Chaos! I was worried about you for a while when I heard from Sonic that you had another nosebleed," Amy admitted.

"No need to worry right now. I'm fine," Tails repeated.

"That's good to hear. Anyways, is Sonic there?" asked Amy.

"Yeah. He's right here."

"Can I speak to him?"

"Just a sec," said Tails as he pointed the phone towards Sonic.

"I knew it," said Sonic as his brother handed him the phone, "We never got to finish our conversation a little bit ago."

He then spoke into the receiver, "Hello?"

"Hi, Sonic. It's me again," came Amy's voice.

"Hi, Ames," replied Sonic, "So where were we? Oh, yeah. I was going to ask you if there's anything going on this weekend."

While Sonic went on with his flirty phone call with Amy, Tails decided to exercise his limbs, considering that he hadn't done so for the past couple of days. He did several different stretches for a minute each until Sonic finally hung up the phone.

"That was long," said Zooey.

"Yeah. Well, Amy tends to be quite a talker, but I don't wanna just simply walk away without upsetting her," explained Sonic.

"I see what you mean," replied Zooey, "I'm close friends with Amy yet I don't see her talk too much."

"Hey, Tails?" called Sonic.

Tails stopped with his exercises and walked up to Sonic and Zooey.

"Yeah?" the fox replied.

"I hate to say this, but … -" Sonic began, only for Tails to cut him off.

"More diaper cream. I just know it!" finished Tails, his happy expression turning into one of despair.

Zooey sighed, "I'm sorry, sweetie, but it does say to apply twice a day, the first time being right after breakfast."

"Please! No!" begged Tails.

"I promise, Tails, we'll start getting ready right after we get this over with," said Sonic calmly as he wrapped an arm around his fox brother's back.

"You never know, Tails. This could be the last time we have to do this," added Zooey.

"It'd better be!" Tails shot back with an angry look on his face.

Seeing that Tails' hatred towards the cream procedure was getting the best of him again, Sonic and Zooey each grabbed one of Tails' shoulders and lifted him slightly off his feet on their way back to the fox's bathroom.

"Please! Couldn't we just-" moaned Tails, only to be shushed by Sonic.

"If you want those cheek bruises to be gone, we've gotta do this, little bro," Sonic reminded him.

The trio entered the bathroom and, as he had done with last night's procedure, Sonic sat down on the toilet seat and wrapped both of his arms tightly around Tails' chest, trapping his arms and tails in so that he had no chance of escaping. Hardly a second later, Zooey was pulling out the bottle of healing cream and the brush that came with it.

Tails swung his legs back and forth to show how impatient he was about this procedure, but Sonic clearly had a firm grip on his brother, and the fox wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

"You know, Tails, I think you're getting that sugar rush from the cereal a little quicker than I expected," commented Sonic.

"I can't have eaten that single bowl of cereal and then go hyper!" objected Tails, "It would have taken about three cereal bowls in about ten minutes for that to happen!"

"Nevertheless, you're acting pretty hyper right now," said Sonic.

Tails pouted and rolled his eyes, earning mischievous looks from both Sonic and Zooey.

"Maybe we should give him the tickling treatment of cream this time around," commented Sonic.

Tails gulped and his eyes widened. He knew he had pushed them too far this time.

"Please! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to test you with my attitude!" Tails apologized with a look of fear on his face.

Sonic and Zooey sighed sympathetically, feeling sorry for Tails, but they still wanted to teach him a lesson with his attitude … in a fun way. Tails could see that once their gentle looks were replaced with smirks.

Sure enough, just as Zooey brought the brush of white healing cream up to Tails' right cheek to start covering the bruise, Sonic started tickling his brother's chest with one hand. The fox cub started giggling nervously as he felt the cream being smeared on his right cheek.

"I said I'm sorry! Pleeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehease!" giggled Tails as Sonic tickled him and Zooey lathered him.

"We know you're sorry, Tails, so we're gonna make this procedure a fun one!" said Sonic playfully.

Once Tails' entire right cheek was covered in cream from the edge of his mouth to the pointy ends on the right side of his muzzle, Zooey switched to his left cheek and repeated the process, covering the other bruise, while Sonic continued tickling Tails' face, gradually turning the fox's giggles into pure laughs of ticklishness.

"Thihihis is getting toohoohoohoo ticklish for meeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeeeeee!" laughed Tails.

"I'm happy to hear that!" teased Sonic, "You're gonna be ticklish for the next five minutes!"

"Fihihihive mihihihinutes!?" giggled Tails in disbelief that Sonic was going to tickle him nonstop for five minutes straight while he had the healing cream all over his face.

At that moment, Zooey applied more cream to Tails' nose.

"Sonic, do you think you could tickle him a little more gently?" asked Zooey.

"No problem," replied Sonic as he stopped tickling Tails' chest.

The fox started catching his breath just as Zooey covered the right half of his mouth with the healing cream, leaving the left side of his mouth to show his smile from being tickled by Sonic.

The hedgehog then started tickling Tails' chest again, only this time in a gentler manner so that Tails would giggle but wouldn't start laughing hysterically again. The last thing they wanted was for some of the cream to accidentally enter Tails' mouth. They knew it could be hazardous … and it would taste very bad.

The fox calmly giggled with the left side of his mouth. Zooey adored Tails' cute smile, even with half of his mouth covered in healing cream. For her, Tails was simply cute and would always be cute.

"Ya feeling comfortable, lil' bro?" asked Sonic playfully.

Tails couldn't speak with half of his mouth creamed. All he could do to reply was nod his head and keep laughing as Sonic continued to draw ticklish patterns all over his chest.

By the end of the fourth minute, Sonic finally stopped tickling Tails so that the little fox could catch his breath. Tails took deep breaths while being careful not to let any of the cream into his mouth.

Finally, the five minutes of the procedure were complete, and Zooey placed the bucket on Tails' lap once again so she could start rinsing the cream off his face.

The vixen grabbed a cup and filled it with water from the sink, then she knelt down in front of Tails once again.

"Close your eyes, sweetie," she soothed her boyfriend.

Tails closed his eyes and slightly turned his head down towards the bucket.

Zooey pressed the cup in between Tails' eyes and allowed the water to flow down to his nose. The cream went sliding off his nose and down his muzzle, shoving with it what was covering the right side of his mouth.

Tails spat out a bit of water that had entered his mouth into the bucket. Thankfully, there was no cream within it.

"Hey, your nose looks shiny black again," pointed Zooey.

Sonic looked down at Tails' nose. It appeared to be in almost perfect physical condition again. It wasn't completely straight again just yet, but it's bright shine had been restored.

"Alright, Tails! We told ya these cream procedures would pay off!" the hedgehog said encouragingly.

Tails opened his eyes and grinned as he looked at his nearly-cured nose.

"I'm still worried it may bleed one more time before it's all over," the fox said worryingly.

"If it does, I'm sure it'll be the last time," said Zooey, "Like I said, we'll have the first aid kit with us on our little adventure just in case."

"No need to worry, little bro. We'll be right with you the whole time, so we can stop the bleeding in just a few seconds and keep on going," added Sonic.

"Thanks, guys," replied Tails softly as Zooey rinsed the cream off his cheeks with water.

Once all the cream had been washed off of Tails' face, Zooey removed the bucket from his lap and placed it back in the corner, then she used a piece of toilet paper to dry his face.

Then, a splendid sight awaited her …

"Hey, Tails! Your cheek bruises are gone!" the vixen said happily.

"Go look in the mirror, buddy!" said Sonic as he released his grip on his brother.

Tails jumped off Sonic's lap and gazed at himself in the mirror.

His cheeks were both completely white again, the healing cream having worked its magic! All that remained was for his nose to straighten out, and it was looking very close to straight.

"Maybe today could be the day!" the fox said to himself excitedly.

"You know what that means, Tailsy?" asked a grinning Zooey.

"No more of that embarrassing diaper cream!" answered Tails.

Zooey chuckled and kissed Tails' left cheek.

"I love you, Zooey!" said Tails eccentrically as he hugged his girlfriend and kissed her face multiple times, "I love you! I love you! I LOVE YOU!"

The vixen hugged Tails back and gently patted his forehead to calm him down.

"I love you, too, Tails!" she replied happily.

After the two lovers kissed each other on the lips, Tails turned to Sonic.

"And I love you, Sonic, my awesome big brother!" the kitsune said happily.

"I love you, too, Tails, my cool little brother!" replied Sonic.

Tails grabbed Sonic with one arm, and the hedgehog proceeded to turn their moment into a group hug that lasted for about fifteen seconds before they finally broke apart and walked out of the bathroom.

"Now then, let's get things ready for our day off!" said Sonic.

"You betcha!" replied Tails.

With their morning routine out of the way at last, the trio finally started packing their backpacks with food and supplies for their little "adventure." Zooey packed the first aid kit into her bag in the event that Tails' nose would bleed again, while Tails packed some of his handy gadgets so that he wouldn't get bored. As for Sonic, he packed very few items into his backpack other than food. He was a hedgehog that liked doing nothing more than run most of the time, and he liked traveling light, so what was the point in bringing that many items with him?

Eventually, the three got everything packed and were finally ready for their day off!

* * *

 _ **Again, I apologize if this chapter seemed way too long, but I wanted to fit all of their preparations into one chapter, hence the chapter's name.**_

 _ **I originally wasn't planning to have Zooey go along with Sonic and Tails, but at the last minute I decided to include her. There are also other reasons why I'm having Tails' girlfriend involved in this, but more on that much later. NO SPOILERS!**_

 _ **Anyways, as before, don't forget to review, and I'll see you (hopefully this weekend) for chapter three! Until then, goodnight!**_


	4. Chapter 3: The Adventure Begins!

_**Well, I've made it through the first week of summer college, and now our two heroes (and a companion) are about to kick off their little adventure!**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 3**_

 _ **The Adventure Begins**_ __

* * *

Tails and Zooey were lying down on one of the sofas, having one of their romantic love sessions, while Sonic was once again on the phone with Amy. Now was the time to tell the rest of the team that he and Tails were heading off on an adventure for their day off.

"How long will you be on your adventure?" asked Amy through the phone.

"Tails and I will be home by sundown tonight," replied Sonic, "It's only for one day. I'm sure he'll be feeling much better when this thing is said and done. He'll be right back to full-swing tinkering in his workshop tomorrow."

"It's just you two, right?" assumed Amy.

"Not quite. Zooey's coming with us. Tails wanted to bring his girl along, so she's joining us," explained Sonic.

"I see," replied Amy.

"Have you told Knuckles and Sticks yet … about our plan?" asked Sonic.

"They're right here," answered Amy, "They wanted to say goodbye and wish you and Tails a nice day off."

Hardly a moment later, Sonic heard Knuckles' voice taking over from Amy.

"Hey. It's Knuckles!" the red echidna greeted.

"Hey, Knux!" replied Sonic with a grin.

"We just wanted to say 'we hope you have a safe adventure'," said Knuckles.

"I'm sure we'll be perfectly fine, Knux," replied Sonic, "I don't see anything stopping us."

"Well, tell Tails we're wishing him well," added Knuckles.

"I will," said Sonic.

The voice on the receiver changed again from Knuckles to Sticks, which surprised Sonic. He knew that Sticks didn't trust technology.

"Hello? Sonic, is that you?" the badger asked nervously.

"Of course it's me, Sticks," the blue hedgehog replied, "The same old Sonic you're all too familiar with."

"I just wanted to say that I hope you and Tails have a good time. That's all I have to say," said Sticks.

Amy then took over.

"Well, Sonic, have a nice day off, and tell Tails' we're still rooting for him," said Amy.

"Will do, Ames," replied Sonic, "And by the way, he's shown great signs of improvement."

"That's great! Anyways, we gotta go now. We don't wanna miss that big extravaganza at town square!" said Amy excitedly.

"Okay, Ames. I hope you all have a great time there, and … I guess I'll talk to you tonight when we get back," said Sonic.

"We will, Sonic. Talk to you later," said Amy.

"'Kay! Bye!" said Sonic.

"Bye!" replied Amy.

Sonic ended the call and hung the phone back on the wall.

"Okay, guys!" the speedster called to Tails and Zooey.

The blue hedgehog turned around, only to see his little brother hugging and kissing passionately with his girlfriend. He sighed and smiled. He felt happy for Tails now that he had a girl who loved him very much.

"Please don't stop," Tails moaned in pleasure as Zooey kissed him on the cheeks repeatedly.

"Oh, I won't," replied Zooey seductively, "Your cheeks taste very good, now that the bruises are gone."

Tails smiled brightly as he received more kisses from his loving girlfriend.

Sonic walked up to the sofa quietly so that they wouldn't hear him approaching.

"Ahem!" the hedgehog cleared his throat.

Tails and Zooey jumped from shock.

"Sonic, don't scare us like that!" shouted Zooey.

"I nearly had a heart attack!" added Tails.

"Sorry about that, fellows. I really hate to break up this romantic moment, but I thought I'd tell you that we'll be leaving in a few minutes," said Sonic.

"Okay, bro," replied Tails.

The fox and vixen stood up and stretched their limbs before grabbing their backpacks, while the hedgehog grabbed his from the dining table.

"I promise you we'll have more of that later," whispered Zooey to Tails, referring to their kissing.

"Thanks, sweetie," replied Tails, hugging his girlfriend once more.

"Okay, guys. Ready to go?" Sonic called as he emerged from the kitchen.

"We're ready, alright!" responded Tails as the three all strapped their backpacks on over their shoulders.

Sonic walked up to the door and opened it, allowing the cool breeze of the outdoors to enter his nose. Tails and Zooey came up behind the speedster and each let out a sigh to breathe in the fresh air.

"This is gonna be fun!" said Tails excitedly as they walked outside.

Zooey closed the door, and the three walked out into the open area surrounding Tails' home.

"Wanna take the plane or go on foot?" the fox asked.

"I don't remember mentioning anything about planes," answered Sonic.

"I know," sighed Tails, "I was just kidding."

"I knew you were!" replied Sonic with a mischievous grin as he pulled Tails into a hug and gave the fox's forehead another 'brotherly noogie.'

"D'aww! Sonic!" giggled Tails, "You crazy big bro!"

"I think we're gonna have plenty of that today!" said Sonic as he stopped the 'noogie' and kept hugging his brother.

"I'm interested to see those brotherly things you told me about," added Zooey, "From the stories I heard, you two must be perfect brothers!"

The two brothers laughed as they broke their hug.

"Oh, we are!" replied Tails before he and Sonic winked at each other in brotherly fashion.

"So, as for your question, Tails, I'll make it clear: we're going on foot," said Sonic.

"Okay, big bro!" replied a giggly Tails.

With that, the group of three headed down one of the pathways into the dense forest and started the first leg of their adventure.

* * *

"It'll be nice once our feet get some exercise," said Sonic as the trio were exploring the jungle a short while later.

"Yeah. Come to think about it, my legs have felt a little stiff lately," admitted Tails.

"Now aren't you glad to be walking again?" Zooey asked her boyfriend.

"I sure am!" the fox replied happily.

"How long do you think we'll be going from here?" Zooey asked Sonic.

"I dunno, Zooey," responded Sonic, "If you could run as fast as I can, we could blaze down this trail forever, or we could simply stop somewhere fruity 'cus I know Tails likes fruit."

"Oh, I love fruit!" said Zooey excitedly, "I especially have a thing for melons!"

"I'd love a few cherries every now and then," added Tails.

As the trio drew deeper into the forest, it wasn't long before the ocean-like scent of Seaside Coast was replaced with the fruity scent of the jungle. The trio could already smell that lovely scent of fruit drawing them nearer to that irresistible source.

"Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing!?" said Tails excitedly as he noticed a colorful sight up ahead in their path.

"Just twenty minutes in and we've already found our first stop of excitement," commented Sonic with a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice, not quite considering this to be 'exciting'.

Up ahead were some piles of fruit that had apparently fallen off from the tree branches above. For Tails and Zooey, this sight was welcoming.

"Wanna grab a few pieces, Zooey?" the fox asked his girlfriend.

"You knew the answer to that before you even thought of asking," the vixen replied.

The two lovers ran straight towards a pile of oranges and gazed at them for about a minute. Sonic simply took off his backpack and sat down under a tree, waiting for his friends to get over their fruit fever.

Tails was treated to the marvelous sight of Zooey juggling several oranges with amazing skill. He was astounded that she could juggle so well!

"Zooey, … that is amazing!" commented Tails.

"Thanks, Tails! Took a lot of practice to master it!" replied Zooey proudly.

"It sure looks difficult to me," said Tails.

"Would you like to try it out?" offered Zooey as she carefully set the oranges on the ground.

"Uh, … I don't know. I'm not sure if I can juggle," replied Tails.

"Here, sweetie," said Zooey politely, handing her boyfriend three oranges.

Tails gulped nervously as he held two oranges in one hand, and a third orange in the other. He wasn't sure if he could pull this off.

"Well, … (gulp) … here goes nothing," the fox whispered to himself as he tossed one orange in the air.

He immediately tossed the second orange up from his other hand, only for him to instantly lose his balance. As he tried catching the oranges, he dropped one, which crashed to the ground, while another one smashed into his forehead and knocked the poor fox down to the ground.

Zooey gasped as she watched Tails' miserably-failed juggling attempt, and she crouched down to comfort her lover.

Sonic had caught a glimpse of his little brother's juggling failure, and he sped to the scene in a sudden blink of an eye. He and Zooey sighed sympathetically at their little fox friend lying on the ground.

Tails had orange juice all over his face from the orange that hit his head, and a second orange had hit his chest, splattering more orange juice all over him. The third orange was in pieces on the ground next to him.

"Still trying to learn that trick, little bro?" asked Sonic kindly.

"I just can't juggle," said Tails sadly, "No matter how hard I try, I just can't do it."

Sonic crouched down and wrapped an arm around his brother.

"It's okay if you're not good at juggling, buddy," said Sonic in a comforting voice, "Hardly even a fraction of the people I know can juggle."

"But I've been trying to figure it out for about two years now," complained Tails, "And now I've just embarrassed myself in front of my sweet girl."

Zooey gently shushed her boyfriend and wiped the orange juice off his face using a napkin from her backpack.

"It's okay, Tailsy," she soothed him, "Maybe one day I'll teach you how to juggle."

"Really?" said Tails with wide eyes of wonder.

"Really, really," replied Zooey as she admired Tails' baby blue eyes.

"Well, are we ready to get a move on?" asked Sonic as he got back on his feet.

"Uh, y-yeah," replied Tails just as he was beginning to picture some things in his mind.

"Alright, pal. I can tell you're daydreaming," commented Sonic with a smirk.

"What? No, I wasn't!" protested Tails as Zooey helped him back up.

"Looks don't fool me, bro!" said Sonic.

"Well, what if they did?" Tails responded.

"Even if they did, I could still tell you were daydreaming," teased Sonic.

Tails sighed in annoyance.

"Come on, Sonic. Cut him a little slack, will ya?" interrupted Zooey.

"I'm just playing with him, Zooey," said Sonic.

"Playing with me, huh?" responded Tails with a mischievous look on his face, "I'll show you just what it's like ta play around with me!"

"Oh boy," replied Sonic, knowing what was coming next …

Tails leaped onto his brother and knocked him to the ground, then he started tickling his chest with an evil grin.

"Hey! Tails! No! Aaahahahahahahaha!" laughed Sonic, "Stop it! Get off me!"

"Wah, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Tails laughed evilly with a childish tone, "Now you know what it's like! HA, HA, HA!"

"Pleeheeheeheeheease! Tails, I'm sorry!" Sonic laughed, "I didn't mean to tease you! Naahahahahahahahaa!"

"Hmm. Maybe I'll believe you once I've tickled your face!" replied Tails with mischief written all over his facial expression as he wiggled his fingers all over Sonic's tan muzzle, "HEE, HEE, HEE, HEH, HEH, HEH, HAA, HAA, HAA!"

"NO! TAILS! STAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHOP!" begged Sonic through laughter as his little brother drove him insane with the tickling.

Zooey giggled in delight as she enjoyed watching her boyfriend acting so playful with his brother.

"Wah, ha, ha! Hee, hee, hee! Ha, ha, ha!" Tails continued with his evil laughter.

"Pleeheeheeheeheehease! I'm sorry I teeheeheeheeheased you, Tails!" laughed Sonic.

"Are you sure, ya teasing hedgehog!?" asked Tails with a smirk, refusing to stop the tickling.

"Yehehehes! I mean it!" answered Sonic, "Please stahahahahahahop!"

Feeling convinced that Sonic was sorry for teasing him, Tails stopped tickling him and allowed the hedgehog to catch his breath.

"Wow. You're quite a tickler," commented Zooey, "I had no idea until now."

"Oh, I can definitely be a tickler alright!" replied Tails.

Just then, Sonic shoved Tails upward and wrestled himself up before pinning his brother to the ground by surprise.

Tails was so surprised by Sonic's sudden move that his heart nearly jolted. His teeth were showing as he looked up at his big brother.

"But who's the real tickler around here!?" the hedgehog teased his little brother.

"Oops," Tails responded, knowing he was in for payback.

Hardly a second later, Sonic, with an evil smile of vengeance on his face, started tickling his brother's chest and face. The fox immediately started laughing hysterically.

"No. No! Sonic! Please! NO! NAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHOHOHOHOHO!" the poor fox laughed as his brother tickled him in various ways.

"Shoulda thought about that before you went crazy on me!" teased Sonic with a playful grin on his face.

Zooey simply laughed as she witnessed Sonic and Tails having one of their moments of brotherly fluff. Now she could really understand how close their brotherly relationship was.

"SOHOHOHONIHIHIHIHIC! PLEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEASE! STAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHOP!" yelled Tails through laughter.

Tears started leaking from Tails' eyes from laughing too much. Sonic tended to be quite an aggressive tickler at times when Tails was the victim.

"Sorry, little buddy! Remember what our good ol' deal was!? Ya tickle me, I tickle ya back!" teased Sonic as he continued torturing his brother with tickles, "It's laughs all around!"

Although Zooey was enjoying their moment, she began to feel sorry for poor Tails. She wondered how long her boyfriend could endure such torturous tickling.

"Uh, … Sonic? Don't you think he's getting a little … exhausted?" the vixen asked worryingly.

"We've done this many times, Zooey. Usually, when I tickle him for payback, I don't stop until he apologizes," replied Sonic.

"I'M SOHOHOHOHORREEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHY!" cried Tails, "PLEEHEEHEEHEEHEASE! NOHOHOHOHOHO MOHOHOHOHOHOHORE!"

"Okay then, lil' bro! I think you've had enough tickle torture for now!" said Sonic as he stopped with the tickling.

Tails panted heavily for about thirty seconds before regaining his breathing stability. Then, he looked up at Sonic.

"I sure hope you don't plan to do that later!" the fox panted.

"Maybe I might if you plan on tickling me again," responded Sonic.

"Hey! I was doing that because you were teasing me about daydreaming!" protested Tails.

"Well, lil' buddy, I just wanted to know what was on that bright mind of yours," said Sonic.

"You really are a crazy hedgehog!" commented Tails.

"Crazy, you say?" replied Sonic with another mischievous grin.

Tails was sure he had called Sonic another name that would get the hedgehog to tickle him.

"Uh, oh," the fox said softly with wide eyes as he stood up and slowly backed away from Sonic.

"I think you've just asked for another round of tickling!" teased Sonic playfully as he charged at Tails again.

However, this time Tails was more prepared for the surprise attack, and he grabbed Sonic's wrists with his hands so that he couldn't tickle him.

"Ha! Who's got the upper hand now, Sonic!?" the kitsune teased.

"We'll see just who it is in just a moment!" responded Sonic.

The two brothers held each others' fists while trying to lunge at each other to see who would win the next inevitable tickling round, while Zooey watched with giggles escaping from her mouth.

Then came more trouble …

Sonic and Tails lost their balance while in their playful fight, and they both fell right into a pile of fruit.

Zooey gasped in shock as she watched it all unfold.

"Guys! Are you okay!?" she called, trying not to panic.

The vixen tossed some of the melons out of the way before she reached Sonic and Tails. Then, she tried her best not to laugh as a hilarious sight awaited her …

Tails was on Sonic's lap, and the two brothers were slumped against some melons, with orange juice, grape juice and squashed cherries splattered all over them.

"Think you two have had enough fruit?" commented Zooey.

Sonic and Tails looked at each other, then they each examined their own fur before looking at each other again with strange faces. They both realized what they had done to each other, then they looked at Zooey, who was laughing her head off from amusement.

"That's the craziest brotherly moment I've ever seen right there!" the vixen said in between laughs.

The brothers looked at each other again and soon shared grins before they, too, started laughing.

"Dude! That was so much fun!" chuckled Sonic.

"That was totally awesome!" agreed Tails.

The hedgehog and two-tailed fox got back up and brushed some of the fruit off their bodies before they hugged each other lovingly, which was quite a 'brotherly' sight for Zooey to see.

"I love you, Sonic, … my big bro!" said Tails cutely.

"I love you, too, Tails, … my little bro!" replied Sonic happily.

As the two hugged, Sonic slightly lifted Tails so that his feet were off the ground, and he gave his fox brother another 'noogie'; this time on the back of his head.

"Ah! Aahahahahahahaha!" laughed Tails in a playful voice, "Sohohonihihic! Staahahahahahahop!"

"Sorry I teased you about daydreaming, little bro," Sonic apologized.

"It's okay, Sonic," chuckled Tails, "I'm sorry I got us into a tickling war."

"It's alright, Tails," replied Sonic, "I enjoyed every moment of it!"

"Me, too!" said Tails.

"Now that I think about it, you two look great together when you're making complete fools of yourselves," commented Zooey with a chuckle.

"Hehe! Thanks, Zooey!" replied Tails, "You know I told that to Sonic one time when he was making a fool of himself!"

Sonic chuckled at the memory as they kept hugging like true brothers.

"I love you, Tails," said Zooey.

"I love you, too, Zooey," said Tails.

"Let's go find the nearest body of water so you can get washed up," suggested Zooey.

Sonic set Tails back down and then proceeded to back away from him and Zooey.

"Oh, no! I'm not going anywhere near a body of water!" he protested.

"And why would that be the case?" asked a confused Zooey.

"Sonic's afraid of water," Tails chimed in, "He can't swim because of it."

"Wow. I've never known anyone who's scared of water," said Zooey.

"Can't say that ever again," commented Sonic.

"Well, we gotta get you two cleaned up one way or the other," Zooey put in.

"I guess we could look for a small river stream," suggested Tails.

"Well, I guess if there's next to no depths involved, I'm in," Sonic responded, not wanting anything to do with a body of water where they couldn't see the floor from ground level.

"It's settled then," announced Zooey.

The three friends all grabbed their backpacks and set off to find the nearest shallow river stream.

Thankfully, there was a stream that was only half of a mile away, and the two brothers immediately started shoving water onto their faces to begin the slow cleaning process.

Sonic wasn't too fond of getting this wet, but Tails didn't mind a bit. He enjoyed getting wet every now and then.

It took a very long time, but eventually the two brothers cleaned all the squashed fruit off their bodies and were looking squeaky clean again.

"And … done!" said Tails in the same manner he would when finishing an invention.

"There we go, bro," added Sonic, "It's just like it never happened. It's just a memory for us to cherish."

"The only downside is that we'll both be smelling like fruit for the rest of the day," sighed Tails as the two put their backpacks on.

"It doesn't matter to me, lil' bro," said Sonic kindly as he gently pulled Tails in for a hug.

"Doesn't matter to me, either," agreed Zooey, "I love fruit, so I won't mind at all."

Tails smiled at his girlfriend while hugging his hedgehog brother.

"Well, I think it's time we continued on with our day-long Bygone Island tour!" announced Sonic as he stood up and lifted Tails onto his back.

The fox wrapped his arms around his brother's neck and peered his head out to the side so that Sonic's quills wouldn't cause him any discomfort.

"Ready to keep going, lil' bro?" asked Sonic.

"I'm ready when you are, big bro!" replied Tails, "How about you, Zooey?"

"Same here," the vixen answered.

"Excellent! Let's roll!" said Sonic.

The hedgehog continued on down the next pathway, carrying Tails on his back, while Zooey followed them towards their next destination.

* * *

 _ **Well, their adventure is now officially underway, and Sonic and Tails have already had their first brotherly moment of the day! How many more do you think will come up? Surely, it won't be long before Tails and Zooey start having some romantic moments, too!**_

 _ **As always, don't forget to review, and I'll see you in the next chapter, where our three explorers find themselves going to places Zooey had never seen before!**_


	5. Chapter 4: The Hot Stuff

_**Hey, everyone! I've got plenty of spare time this weekend so that I bring you this next chapter of Sonic and Tails' Day Off, where our heroes seem to be having a great start so far!**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 4**_

 _ **The Hot Stuff**_

* * *

Sonic, Tails and Zooey had a great time in the jungle! Aside from Sonic and Tails getting covered in fruit, their only other highlight was nearly being sighted by the guilt tripping Gogobas whom had somehow managed to escape from Eggman and move back into their village. The two brothers had immediately hidden behind a tree once they saw the village, much to the confusion of Zooey. Once the coast was clear, the brothers emerged from their hiding spot, and the three continued on. Tails explained to Zooey that the Gogobas once guilt tripped them into staying without ever letting them leave. Therefore, they had to guilt trip the chief into letting them go, only for them to show up at Sonic's shack. When Eggman attacked them, and Sonic and Tails defeated the robots, they guilt tripped the chief into joining Eggman just so they could get them out of their lives. Zooey was quite stunned by that story.

Once the three were finally out of the jungle, Tails jumped off Sonic's back after riding on him for quite a long while, and they found themselves stumbling into the light brown cliffs of the canyon and desert. Temperatures went soaring up into the high eighties, and they almost immediately started sweating.

"Think now may be a good time for some of those aqua bottles?" commented Sonic.

"I agree," replied Tails.

"Same here," finished Zooey.

The three explorers each dug into their backpacks and pulled out a bottle of purified drinking water. Then, they removed their caps and took a large gulp from their bottles.

"That oughta keep us going for a while," said Tails.

The three put their bottles back in their backpacks and simply stood where they were, wondering how they could continue their journey at a faster pace.

"I wanna go fast! I'm suddenly in the mood for it!" said Sonic as he stretched his legs as if he was warming up for a run.

"But Sonic, I can't run as fast as either of you can," reminded Zooey.

"Do you mind flying?" asked Tails.

"But Tails, you don't have your plane," Zooey pointed out.

"I meant I could lift you using my tails," explained Tails, "Do you mind?"

"Well, … I guess not," replied Zooey, appearing to be deep in thought.

"You'll be glad he's offering to do this," Sonic told her.

Tails came up behind his girlfriend and grabbed her wrists before spinning his two namesakes and taking to flight.

"Hang on tight, Zooey!" the fox called as he lifted his girl off the ground.

Zooey grabbed hold of Tails' wrists as tightly as she could while she nervously tried not to look down.

"C'mon, Tails! Let's blast!" called Sonic.

The blue hedgehog curled into a ball and went speeding down the dry desert sand and rocky canyon floor. Tails held Zooey tightly and took off at a high speed to keep up with his big brother.

All Zooey could do was hang on tightly to her boyfriend's wrists as she tried to get a glimpse of Sonic ahead of them.

"What if we lose him, Tails?" she said worryingly.

"Don't worry, sweetie," replied Tails, "He's not running at his top speed so that I'll end up losing him. I can keep up very well, you know!"

"I hope so," said Zooey.

A moment later, she could see Sonic just below them, in the form of a speeding blue ball.

"See! Told ya!" commented Tails with a wink.

About halfway through their run through the canyon, the three passed by the very spot where Sonic and Tails had another memory to cherish …

* * *

 _Sonic and Tails were once enjoying a brotherly morning by themselves, only for Eggman to show up and attack them with two Obliterator Bots. The brothers had managed to destroy the robots, but Eggman then extracted his revenge by kicking Tails in the kneecap so hard that he broke his knee, then punched him in the head so hard that it bruised him and left him unconscious for seven hours, much to Sonic's horror. Sonic had to bring Tails back home, and the two shared a tearful embrace as the hedgehog praised his brother for defeating a robot all on his own without his help. Tails, unfortunately, was left out of commission for a week until he recovered from his injuries, with help from Sonic._

* * *

After recalling that brotherly love-filled day, the two brothers sped through the canyon like it was a supersonic running course. Never for one second did Tails and Zooey lighten their grips on each other, and never for one second did the two speeding brothers slow down; that was until the canyon slowly turned into a smooth desert.

Eventually, Tails had to slow down as sweat came pouring down his face. The fox was gritting his teeth as he struggled to keep flying at his top speed. He desperately needed to stop now!

Sonic uncurled himself and skidded to a stop once he could see smooth ground up ahead. The alley-like canyon path had brought them to the sandy and rocky deserts of Bygone Island. Then, he looked behind him.

Tails was slowing down, still carrying his girlfriend. His face showed pain and fatigue as he panted and poured sweat. Zooey looked up and noticed the state her boyfriend was in.

"Oh, my," said Sonic worryingly, "Tails, are you alright?"

"No," panted Tails as his twin appendages just about stopped rotating.

Zooey brought her feet down so that she touched down feet-first on the ground by the time Tails finally stopped spinning his tails for good.

The fox and vixen then released each others' wrists, and Tails took a few lazy steps forward towards Sonic before he collapsed to the ground from exhaustion and closed his eyes.

"Tails!" shouted Sonic as he ran over to his little brother, "Are you okay!? Oh, Tails! Please don't pass out on me, little bro!"

Tails opened his eyes and looked up at his big brother, noticing his ever-so-familiar expression of overprotectiveness.

"I … feel … nowhere near alright," the poor fox panted heavily.

"I was only beginning to grow concerned once we reached the end of the path," said Zooey as she sat down and patted Tails' appendages.

Sonic gently pulled a sweat-covered Tails onto his lap and hugged him around the chest. The kitsune simply kept hyperventilating and sweating as Sonic reached into his brother's backpack and pulled out his water bottle.

"Here. Drink this," he ordered.

Tails took the bottle while Sonic pulled the cap off. The fox then brought the top of the bottle to his mouth and let the water into his system. In an instant, his mouth felt freezing sensations from how cold the water was. His eyes went wide as he felt a slight pain in his mouth.

"Are you alright, little buddy?" asked Sonic with concern.

"C-c-c-c-c-c-co-co-co-col-cold!" stuttered Tails as his teeth could be seen gently shaking inside his mouth.

"I know, pal. The water can be quite freezing," said Sonic sympathetically.

"Are you sure this wouldn't have happened if we weren't going so fast?" asked Zooey.

"I'm not sure if that would have made a difference. If we were going at a much slower pace, his undoing may have been heat exhaustion rather than flying exhaustion," explained Sonic.

Zooey sighed sadly.

"Aw. Our poor little Tailsy," she soothed her boyfriend.

Tails exchanged sad looks with his brother and girlfriend.

"Zooey, the way you said that just now? It's making you two look like my mom and dad," the fox said weakly.

Sonic and Zooey exchanged strange looks before letting out some chuckles.

"Well, having a big brother and a girlfriend along with you may very well feel like having your parents with you at a time like this," commented Sonic.

All three of them giggled softly before Tails took a few more sips of water to cool himself down.

"Here, Tails. How about we help you cool down a little more?" offered Zooey as she dug the first aid kit out of her backpack and took out an ice pack, "Here you go, sweetie."

Tails took the ice pack and placed it on top of his chest, while Sonic gently ruffled the fox's hair on his forehead, earning a grin from his little brother.

The kitsune gradually regained his breathing stability after keeping the ice pack on his chest for five minutes, then Sonic removed his goggles before he placed the ice pack on his forehead just above his hair.

Sonic continued to hold Tails tightly on his lap, and (with help from Zooey) gently soothed the two-tailed fox to the point of almost making him fall asleep.

Eventually, after another five minutes, Tails opened his eyes and removed the ice pack, handing it back to Zooey.

"Feeling any better?" she asked.

"A lot better," he replied.

Zooey placed the ice pack back in the first aid kit and slid the whole box back into her backpack.

Finally, Tails found the strength to get back onto his feet, much to Sonic's delight.

"Ready to keep going, lil' bro?" the hedgehog asked.

"I'm ready, big bro!" the fox replied happily, "How about you, Zooey?"

"I'm ready," the vixen responded, "I just hope you don't wear yourself out again."

"You really gave us a little scare back there, buddy," added Sonic.

"I'm sorry, guys," Tails apologized, "I think my flying can take the rest of the day off."

The three all laughed as they entered the hot desert.

* * *

The desert was a lot hotter today than Sonic and Tails had expected it to be. They had been here many times before, but it had never been this hot as long as they could remember. As for Zooey, the desert was a new place for her. She was fascinated by how the desert looked somewhat like the canyon. Aside from cacti, there were large rocks that looked just like the canyon rocks, only smaller. However, she, too, had to drink plenty of cold water, as Sonic and Tails were doing, to keep herself from getting exhausted from the sun's heat.

"Man, it's a lot hotter out here today than it's ever been," commented Tails.

"Even I'm worn out by this massive heat wave," sighed Sonic, "I'm surprising myself out here!"

Zooey chuckled at Sonic's comment.

After a few minutes of silence, Tails started humming a tune as he appeared to be deep in thought.

Sonic and Zooey looked at their two-tailed friend as they listened to his humming.

"Nice voice you have there, Tails," said Zooey.

"Dream-singing, aren't ya, lil' buddy?" added Sonic.

Tails stopped humming and noticed his two companions looking at him. He knew right away that they had heard him.

"Oh, … uh, … no, it's nothing. I was just, … uh, … -" Tails tried to excuse himself.

"You're not escaping this one, little bro," said Sonic, pulling Tails in for a hug as they continued walking.

"What song were you humming just now, sweetie?" asked Zooey.

Tails blushed deep red in embarrassment.

"Um, … it was nothing, really," the fox shyly replied.

"I think I know what it was," said Sonic.

"Really?" said Zooey curiously.

"Okay! You win!" said Tails, blushing profusely, "It was that song Sonic and I heard at Station Square's train station during our vacation."

"I knew it!" replied Sonic with a grin, "I was only familiar with a few notes, but Tails finds it pretty awesome!"

"What's the name of the song?" the vixen asked.

"If I can remember, it's titled 'Call It Love'," answered Tails.

"By who?" asked Zooey.

"Yello, … and I think I can remember hearing on the radio that day that they were from Switzerland," recalled Tails, "Station Square was tuned to a radio station that's dedicated to playing music from the eighties."

"It's an oldie?" said Zooey in astonishment as she heard the word, 'eighties'.

"I thought I'd get that response," commented Tails with a sigh, "Nobody in our generation seems to listen to stuff that old."

"I should agree with you on that one, lil' bro," said Sonic, "Why don't people respect the classics?"

"Maybe I should check that out when we get home tonight," Zooey suggested to herself.

"Shortly after Sonic and I got back from our 'brotherly' vacation, I got out my laptop one night. The part that Sonic might not want to hear, and I regret saying this, big bro, but … I stayed up almost all night that day," said Tails.

Sonic simply grinned and ruffled Tails' hair playfully before giving him a 'noogie'.

"Aaagh! I knew you'd do that!" giggled Tails.

"What was that for?" Zooey asked Sonic.

"I do that whenever I hear that he hasn't gotten enough sleep," explained Sonic, earning a chuckle from Tails' girlfriend.

"Sorry about that, Sonic," apologized Tails.

"Nah. It's okay, lil' bro," replied Sonic, "I'm sure you were going through a lot of internet searching that night."

"I did," said Tails, "I searched 'Yello – Call It Love', and I found quite a lot of results, so I had to take a wild guess to figure out which version was the one that played on the radio at Station Square. My guess was a result that was about four minutes long, so I kept searching until I finally found it. Then, I listened to it about ten times in a row."

"Ten times in a row with just your kitchen and bathroom lights set to 'dim'?" joked Sonic.

"Aside from the light coming my laptop, which I also dimmed, yeah," chuckled Tails.

"How does it sound?" asked Zooey curiously.

"I can't imitate those old sounds very well, but I especially love those very brief high-pitched keyboard chords that you hear a lot on the radio version. To me, it sounds eighties-defining," Tails explained.

"Sounds like something worth hearing," commented Zooey.

"Then, … after we started dating, Zooey, … I went home one night and listened to it again. Nowadays, when I hear it, I start thinking about, … well, … you, … sweetie," finished Tails, looking at his girlfriend.

Zooey blushed and smiled back at her boyfriend.

"You gotta introduce me to that song some time, Tails," she said as she held hands with the fox, "I'm curious about how it sounds like."

"Maybe I'll do that tonight, Zooey," replied Tails happily, "Once you and I are alone back at my house, I'll get my laptop out and bring that song up."

"Sounds like a deal," said Zooey, kissing Tails' cheek.

The two-tailed fox blushed as he felt the love from Zooey sinking into his heart.

"I've got an idea," Tails said with a smile.

"What is it, little bro?" asked Sonic.

Tails then proceeded to wrap his left arm around Sonic's neck, then he wrapped his right arm around Zooey's neck.

"Oh, I see what you wanna do!" chuckled Sonic.

"Me, too," said Zooey.

"You guessed it! My legs are kinda tired," Tails replied.

"Okay, little bro. We'll give ya a lift," said Sonic.

The hedgehog lifted Tails' right leg while Zooey lifted his left leg. The fox relaxed his arms on his companions' shoulders so that he could rest his legs while they continued their journey.

"Up ya go!" said Sonic.

Tails grinned and sighed in relaxation as Sonic and Zooey carried him.

"This feels much better," the fox sighed happily.

Sonic and Zooey giggled in response.

"This should keep you feeling nice and comfortable for a while," soothed Zooey.

Tails chuckled.

* * *

After journeying through the scorching canyon-like desert, the trio eventually made it to a large round cliff below the ground that could only be the volcano … that was a very familiar sight for Sonic and Tails.

"Well, Tails, … we both know this place rather well, don't we?" said Sonic.

"Yeah," sighed Tails.

"Did you two have one of your memorable battles with Eggman here?" asked Zooey.

"Well, somewhat memorable … in a bad way," answered Tails.

"What happened?" asked Zooey.

"Eggman's Burnbot clipped our former plane, the Tornado, and I ended up flying out of the volcano, only for my ejector to fail," recalled Tails, "I crash-landed just a few hundred yards away and I was knocked out on impact."

"Oh, my!" gasped Zooey.

"I saw the crash happen, and I rushed over to see if Tails survived, which he did. I decided to relieve him of his position as my sidekick to protect him," added Sonic, "That was probably the biggest mistake of my life. It nearly got us both killed later that same day."

Zooey simply looked at Sonic and Tails with wide eyes.

"Sonic had sidekick tryouts, and I applied because I wanted to reclaim my position, even though Sonic didn't want me to. However, Eggman also applied, so I had to race Eggman in a race to Mount Safety. Ugh, such a stupid name," said Tails, "Eggman then revealed that he only applied so that he could eliminate the two of us."

Tails and Sonic looked at each other with sympathetic looks as they recalled that bad day.

"Eggman then brought Burnbot back and clipped the Tornado again, and I crashed into a frozen lake. Sonic pulled me out, but the Tornado sunk and was gone forever," said Tails.

"We fought Burnbot again, and it broke the ice around us, which nearly led me to drown. Tails swam down to save me, and I finished off Burnbot," continued Sonic, "We made up after that, and I rehired Tails as my sidekick. That was a day in which I learned a valuable lesson, and I'll never forget that lesson."

"To not be so overprotective with me all the time, I hope," commented Tails.

"Yeah!" chucked Sonic, tickling his brother on the chest.

"Sohohohonihihihihic!" laughed Tails, "Stahahahahahop!"

"Just playing with ya!" said Sonic.

Zooey was astonished by Sonic and Tails' story.

"I guess you weren't kidding, Sonic, … when you told me that Tails says that you're overprotective with him sometimes," the vixen recalled.

"I wasn't kidding, Zooey," replied Sonic.

"My big brother can be very protective of me sometimes, often to the point of keeping me out of a few missions that he thinks are too dangerous for me, even though I have my own back covered with my plane and my inventions," said Tails.

"Have you really left him out of some of your missions, Sonic?" asked Zooey.

"I have done that a few times, actually," answered Sonic, feeling guilty, "I only wanted to keep Tails safe because I didn't want him to get hurt."

"Well, I can understand that, but you know he's got his wits," said Zooey.

"I know now, but sometimes I can't help but feel concerned for his safety. If I ever lost you, Tails, I wouldn't be able to move on," said Sonic, "You mean the world to me, little bro."

"I know, Sonic," replied Tails kindly, "I feel the same towards you, big bro, … and you, too, Zooey."

Sonic and Zooey both smiled at Tails. They both felt warm, knowing that Tails had a very warm heart.

"You're a very kind-hearted fox, Tails," commented Sonic soothingly to his little brother.

Tails smiled at his two companions as he received a brotherly kiss from Sonic on his left cheek and a romantic kiss from Zooey on his right cheek.

"Well, … seeing that we've hit another place that has gotten the three of us closer together, I think we should continue on," said Sonic.

"I agree," said Zooey.

"Wanna keep going, Tails?" asked Sonic.

Tails, who still had his arms wrapped around Sonic and Zooey's necks while having his legs lifted off the ground, could only nod his head and grin at his two friends again.

"Who knows? We may get to know a little more about each other at whatever our next destination will be," said Sonic.

"Maybe," Tails and Zooey replied together.

With that, Sonic and Zooey, still carrying Tails, left the volcano, and the three took off towards the next destination of their one-day vacation together.

* * *

 _ **Sorry if this chapter didn't contain much other than just friendly conversations between these three, but I wanted these few chapters to focus solely on Sonic, Tails and Zooey before we turn back to our other heroes back at Seaside Coast. This is not only to show how happy Tails is to have both his brother and girlfriend by his side, but I also want to establish Sonic and Zooey as being good friends as it shows that they both care deeply about Tails at about the same high level. Of course, I do NOT intend to turn them into a 'three-some' in the sense that Sonic has pictured it! Sonic and Zooey are simply good friends, and that's that. For Tails, it's the best he could ask for.**_

 _ **NOTE: The memory of when Sonic and Tails fought two Obliterator Bots in the canyon is a reference to my first Sonic fanfic, "Never Letting Down." Like "A Brotherly Vacation," it did NOT happen in the television series.**_

 _ **Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter. Please review and tell me what you think of the story so far, and I'll see you in the next chapter!**_


	6. Chapter 5: The Picnic

_**Hello again! I'm back for more of Sonic and Tails' Day Off! Now, I'll go ahead and start making things a little interesting.**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 5**_

 _ **The Picnic**_

* * *

Back at the village in Seaside Coast, Amy, Knuckles and Sticks were among many attending a very crowded event. As it turned out, Justin Beaver, as he had promised, had decided to go on hiatus from his music career and was now starring in a new reality TV series. Today just so happened to be the series premiere, and everyone was crazed about Justin being the star, especially Amy!

"I can't wait to see what character traits he has!" said Amy excitedly, "I'm gonna love this!"

"What do they mean by 'reality television'?" asked Knuckles, feeling dumbfounded, "Are we going into another dimension?"

"No, Knuckles," replied Amy, "Reality television is a show of real people being put into entertainment rather than being informative."

"But why would entertainment have anything to do with reality?" said Knuckles, still not understanding.

Amy sighed, _"Knucklehead will never understand the true meaning of 'reality'."_

The three active Team Sonic members were seated at Meh Burger, while everywhere else in town was filled with civilians. It had taken them forever to find an empty place to sit so they could watch the premiere. To their delight, Dave the Intern treated them each with a fancy meal.

Just then, the restaurant's TV screen started playing the new show's intro, much to Amy and Sticks' excitement. This was followed by the title screen for the pilot episode, and the new show was finally on!

Everyone in the village had their eyes glued to their screens in silence as the series premiere was officially underway.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails and Zooey had journeyed up to the mountain peak, where they could see almost all of Seaside Coast, the canyons and the deserts they had previously explored. The trio had found a very pleasant resting spot, and they had decided to stop there and have their picnic.

They set up their picnic area at a spot where they could observe just about the entire south half of Bygone Island and admire the beautiful view. The air felt nice and warm, and the birds were singing sweet tunes that turned this into a dream environment for a picnic.

Sonic helped himself to a chili dog for lunch, as did Tails, while Zooey enjoyed some pieces of watermelon.

"I could have a thousand of these every day if there wasn't such thing as limited capacity," commented Sonic on his chili dog.

"You love chili dogs that much, huh?" said Zooey.

"Oh yeah! After that desert heat run, I could have about twenty of them in the next few minutes!" added Sonic.

"Too bad we only brought ten," said Tails, "I like these, too, but I wouldn't wanna have one every single day like you do."

"I know, buddy. Everyone's got their own opinions," replied Sonic.

"Would you like a chili dog, sweetie?" Tails asked Zooey.

"Uh, … no, thank you," the vixen replied, "I'm not really crazy about chili."

"Aww, that's too bad," said Sonic with a slight bit of sarcasm before taking another bite of his chili dog.

"Other than the occasional dairy-filled breakfasts and delicate desserts, I'm mainly a vegetarian," explained Zooey.

"Really?" said Tails, looking surprised.

"Yeah," continued Zooey, "It runs in my family. My parents are both vegetarians, too."

"I didn't know that, sweetie," said Tails, "Are there many people in your family who enjoy just fruits?"

"Some of them do," answered Zooey, "In fact, some members of my family's past generations were fruit farmers. I've been loving fruits as long as I can remember. When I was younger, my parents would take me to the local farmer's market on weekends and treat me to the many delightful fruits they had there."

Just then, Tails and Zooey heard the sound of snoring. They turned and saw Sonic appearing to be asleep after finishing his chili dog.

"Sonic!" the two lovers shouted in unison.

Sonic immediately opened his eyes and sat up.

"Sorry. I was just getting bored," the hedgehog excused himself, "I'm not the 'life story' type."

"So you've told me before," reminded Tails, "I was enjoying this one."

"It's okay, Tails. I'll tell you more about it some other time," said Zooey.

A few minutes later, Tails finished his chili dog and Zooey finished the remaining melon pieces on his plate.

"Yo, Tails. You wanna talk privately with me for a minute?" asked Sonic as he stood up.

"Uh, … sure, I guess," replied Tails.

The fox turned to his girlfriend as he also stood up.

"I'll be right back, sweetie."

The vixen smiled and kissed the fox's cheek, making him blush.

Sonic then walked up to a large rock with Tails following him. Once he was sure they were alone, Sonic sat down, prompting his brother to sit next to him.

"How are you feeling, little bro, regarding your emotional state?" asked Sonic in a serious tone, as if he was desperate to know if this day off was helping Tails get over his depression.

Tails thought for about a minute, remembering his Gold Ray incident then recalling everything they had done on their day off so far. Inside, the fox was actually feeling glad to be out of the workshop and enjoying the outdoors with a loving brother and a loving girlfriend by his side. He was sure that this little adventure would give him so much happiness that he could be right back to his tinkering tomorrow.

"I'm actually feeling okay, Sonic, to be honest. Last night, I thought I wouldn't be able to accomplish anything anymore, but after what we've done today, I'm feeling so happy to be outside and enjoying the fresh air," said Tails.

"Are you sure you'll be able to head back to your workshop tomorrow and accomplish something that's totally kick-ass?" asked Sonic.

Tails laughed, "Yeah! The outdoors has really given me some sweet feelings, especially with both you and Zooey by my side."

Sonic chuckled, "I'm happy to hear that, lil' bro!"

The two stood up, and the hedgehog gave his fox brother yet another hug and a 'noogie' on his forehead. Then, he started tickling him again.

"Hey!" yelled Tails before being lured into another bout of laughter, "Agh! Sonic! HEHEHEHEHEHEHEY! STAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHOP! LEHEHEHET MEEHEEHEE GOHOHOHO! AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!"

"I just wanna have some fun with ya, little bro!" said Sonic playfully, "C'mhere, ya cute little one!"

Still hugging Tails tightly, Sonic tickled the fox's chest in various ways, making him laugh hysterically.

"NAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!" laughed Tails with a wide smile plastered on his face, "PLEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEASE! I'M TOOHOOHOO TICKLISH! NAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!"

"I know you are, little buddy!" replied Sonic, "So I'll stop there for now!"

The speedster stopped tickling his fox brother and released him from his tight grasp. The fox panted heavily for about half a minute before regaining his breathing stability.

"You … are … so … crazy!" panted Tails.

"Hmm," replied Sonic with a mischievous grin, "You know that calling me 'crazy' will only earn you a brotherly tickle for at least a few minutes."

Tails gulped nervously, realizing he had earned himself another tickle from Sonic.

"But I'll let you off the hook this one time. I don't wanna wear you out on such a wonderful day like this," added Sonic, pulling Tails in for another brotherly hug.

"Whew," whispered Tails, only for Sonic to give him another mischievous grin.

"Yeah. I heard that one just now," the hedgehog said, "You really don't wanna be tickled again, do ya?"

"No. (Gulp) I'm sorry I called you crazy, big bro," replied Tails.

"It's okay, Tails," said Sonic, grinning warmly at his brother, "I'm happy to hear that you're having a good day, and that this is helping you get over your depression."

"Yeah," said Tails as he let out a big sigh of relief.

That sigh told Sonic that Tails was finally letting go of the emotional pain he had been going through ever since the Gold Ray incident three days ago.

"Wanna head back and have a snack, buddy?" offered Sonic.

"I think I'll just hang around and smell some flowers for a few minutes," answered Tails, "I really like their beautiful scent."

"Okay, lil' bro. Don't let me lose sight of ya," said Sonic.

"Oh, Sonic! You don't have to be that protective with me at a time like this!" protested Tails.

"I just wanna look after ya, bro!" chuckled Sonic.

Tails rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Okay, Sonic! I'll stay close to our picnic area!" said Tails sarcastically.

"I sure hope you're not giving me your snark-y attitude again, are ya?" said Sonic.

Tails sighed.

Sonic gave Tails yet another playful 'noogie' on his forehead just so he could see the fox's cute smile again. He wanted to make sure that his little brother wasn't losing it with his attitude again.

"Hey! No! AAAGH!" yelled Tails before he started laughing again, "HEHEHEHEHEY! PLEASE STOP! NAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!"

"There's that smile I'm looking for, little bro!" commented Sonic happily.

Tails continued laughing and smiled back at his big brother.

"I love you, little bro," said Sonic gently while hugging Tails once again.

"I love you, too, big bro," replied Tails happily as the two shared brotherly smiles.

"That's my lil' bro!" said Sonic playfully, kissing Tails' face in brotherly fashion, "Have fun with your taste of nature!"

A happily blushing Tails was finally released from Sonic's tight hug, and the two-tailed fox went running off like a playful child towards a beautiful row of flowers he had taken interest in. The hedgehog watched with a grin. He felt happy for his little brother, now that he was feeling a lot better than he had felt last night.

Feeling convinced that Tails was better off on his own for a few minutes, Sonic rejoined Zooey at their picnic area.

"How is he doing?" asked Zooey, "I thought I could hear some laughter."

"I asked him how he was feeling emotionally. His depression seems to be fading away after what we've been doing today," explained Sonic, "Oh, about the laughter? I decided to be a little playful with him so that I could see his smile. I just want him to be a happy little fox rather than a sad little fox."

"I think this idea of yours is really paying off, Sonic," said Zooey, "You really know how to treat Tails like a brother."

"Well, we've been brothers by bond for years now, so I know what I'm doing when I come up with plans like these," said Sonic, "I think you've been doing a good job over the past few days, too, staying at his house and taking care of him like a sister."

"Well, I doubt that we'll ever show that kind of love to each other," replied Zooey, "After all, Tails and I are in a 'romantic' relationship. We're simply dating, yet we love each other very much. He saved me from a giant robot, and here I am, repaying the favor by helping him."

"I never knew you were so medically qualified," commented Sonic.

"Well, let's just say, I learned a thing or two from Amy," said Zooey.

"Yeah. She's more medically qualified than any other friend I've ever had," replied Sonic.

"Amy and I still play Fuzzy Puppies together, and she often teaches me things about medicine when we hang out together," added Zooey.

"Well, perhaps the more you learn from her, the more likely this'll become the 'Tale of the Three-Some'," commented Sonic.

Zooey sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Will you ever give that a break?" she asked.

"I don't know," replied Sonic, "It sounds like a wonderful dream story to me."

"Hmm. What I don't know is how your friends can put up with your strange flirts from time to time," commented Zooey.

"Whaddaya mean? I'm a hedgehog and I like being who I am!" chuckled Sonic.

"A flirty hedgehog who loves being random with women just like James Bond?" guessed Zooey.

"Women always do seem to enjoy a nice flirt every now and then," said Sonic, "It's that or else randomness is way too damn complicated."

"It's no wonder I've seen you and Amy having arguments a few times," said Zooey.

"With Amy, it's usually no biggie. She gets over it, but nobody else does," explained Sonic.

"Which is why your so-called 'Sonic School of Impressing the Ladies' gets poor reviews, if it ever had any," added Zooey.

"Well, someone was bound to complain sooner or later about the way I educate fellow boys about girls," the hedgehog sighed.

"I will say this, Sonic. While I like you as a friend, there's one thing I _don't_ like, and it's the way you always flirt random things with random girls. Men _never_ win the hearts of women that way. Tails had to learn that the hard way when he had a crush on me," Zooey reminded Sonic.

Sonic sighed. He knew Zooey was right. While he did tend to enjoy random flirts with girls … for only a few minutes, this would lead to him earning a bad reputation with them. He certainly couldn't let that mix in with his ever-so-great reputation as a hero.

"You're right, Zooey," the hedgehog finally said, "As a hero, the last thing I need is a bad reputation with girls."

"The least you can do is save the flirts for one of those strange events at the village," suggested Zooey.

"You mean, those weirdo parties they occasionally have down there?" asked Sonic.

Zooey nodded.

"I've been to a few of those busted-ass parties, and they can really get twisted like hell," commented Sonic, "One time I went down there just to see what was brewing at a concert. During the break, I went down to a room with dim red lights all over the place with Amy so we could have a few minutes together, and a few hedgehog girls who recognized me started creeping me out with their strange beauty tricks, such as blood-colored lipsticks. I had to beg Amy to bail me out of that room once things got a little out of hand."

Zooey laughed at Sonic's story.

"You know, Sonic, the way you told that story? I can't even tell if it's true or not. It sounds like it was easily made up," she commented.

"You know me," sighed Sonic, "I'm a flirty weirdo, but at the same time I'm the leader of a justice team that's always trying to protect this island from that fat ass, otherwise known as Doctor Eggman."

Zooey continued laughing at Sonic's random words.

Just then, they heard the sound of sniffling, which could only be coming from Tails nearby.

"That doesn't sound like a good sign," said Sonic, showing an expression of worry.

"I think we should check on Tails," agreed Zooey.

A few yards away, Tails had been sniffing the delightful scent of blooming flowers, then he suddenly started smelling something completely different.

"Why do I smell something weird?" the fox asked himself in confusion.

Sonic and Zooey ran over to their two-tailed friend with worried looks on their faces.

"Are you alright, little bro?" asked Sonic.

"I don't know, Sonic," replied Tails, "I was sniffing the flowers, then I started smelling something strange, … and … -"

Then, the fox realized what it was …

"Oh, no. I think I know what that smell is," he finished.

"Lemme see your face, Tails," said Sonic.

Tails turned so that he was facing Sonic and Zooey.

Then, the hedgehog and vixen each let out a light gasp, "Oh, Chaos!" …

The area underneath Tails' nose was red. There could only be one reason to that …

"Tails, … your nose is bleeding again," said Sonic sadly.

Tails was about to rub against his muzzle with his hand, but Sonic acted fast and grabbed the fox's hand before he could do so.

"No! Don't touch it! It'll only make it worse!" the cobalt speedster ordered before turning to Zooey, "Grab the first aid kit!"

"I'm on it!" replied Zooey, and she ran back to their picnic area.

Sonic then sighed sadly as he noticed Tails' facial expression, which was one of shock and sadness.

"I knew this would happen again!" the fox cried as a few tears escaped his eyes and slipped down his cheeks.

"Ssh. Please don't cry, Tails. We'll put an end to this," soothed Sonic as he hugged his brother.

Zooey then returned with the first aid kit in hand, and she opened the box. She pulled out a cloth and poured a tiny drop of rubbing alcohol on it.

"Okay, sweetie. Hold still, okay?" she soothed her boyfriend.

Tails tried his best to hold still, but his body appeared to be shaking in fear of the alcohol … and out of shock that he had gotten another nosebleed.

Seeing that Tails couldn't keep still, Sonic wrapped both arms tightly around his brother's chest and soothed him softly so that the fox could calm down.

Then, Zooey removed the small bandage that was still on Tails' nose, and she brought the cloth to his nose and started rubbing it gently, but even the gentlest rubs gave the poor fox a nasty sting of pain.

"OW! UGH! OW! AAOOOOWWW!" screamed Tails.

"Ssssh!" soothed Sonic and Zooey, "It's okay! It's okay."

"Calm down, lil' bro," said Sonic, "Calm down. It's okay. It'll be alright. I gotcha, lil' bro. Please don't cry."

Tears poured from Tails' eyes as his nose felt as if it had been poked with a very sharp needle.

"Please stop! OW!" cried Tails, "NO MORE!"

"I'm finished, sweetie," replied Zooey as all of the leaking blood had been eliminated from Tails' muzzle.

Then, she examined her boyfriend's nose and took notice of something …

"Sweetie?" she said softly.

"What is it?" asked Tails with a sniffle as he tried to stop crying with help from Sonic's tight hug.

"Your nose is all straight again," answered Zooey, "It looks perfectly normal again. I think this nosebleed may have marked the end of all of this."

"Plus, I think it means you won't get anymore nosebleeds from here, little bro," added Sonic, "You look as good as new, as if it never happened."

"Really?" said Tails with wide eyes of astonishment from what he was hearing.

"Really really," replied Sonic, smiling down at his little brother.

Tails looked at Zooey and saw that she, too, was smiling. The fox gently smiled back in return.

"This is it, Tails. It's all over," soothed Zooey, "You're all better now."

"Oh, thank you, guys!" the two-tailed kitsune shouted happily with joy, "I love you both! I love you! I LOVE YOU!"

Even with Sonic still hugging him tightly, Tails grabbed Zooey and pulled her in, turning it into another three-way group hug.

"We love you, too, Tails," Sonic and Zooey whispered together to their fox friend.

The three shared hugs and smiles for a minute before they all broke apart from each other.

Zooey then picked up the first aid kit and walked back to the picnic area.

"Well, Tails, now that your nose is all better, you can enjoy the rest of today without having to worry about getting anymore nosebleeds!" said Sonic happily.

"Oh, I'm so glad!" replied Tails excitedly, "I can't wait to enjoy the rest of today! It'll be great, now that my face is all healed!"

"One less thing to worry about, one more thing to enjoy!" said Sonic, "No more nosebleeds, even more fun time!"

Tails laughed at Sonic's comment, and the two returned to their picnic area to enjoy some dessert with Zooey.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the village, the premiere of the first episode of Justin Beaver's new TV show had just ended, receiving lots of applause from the villagers.

Of course, no one could be more enthused than Amy.

"Yeah! That was so awesome!" the pink hedgehog screamed in delight, "We ougtha do this for every episode, kinda like how some people hang out at bars to watch their favorite fantasies!"

"I enjoyed it tremendously!" agreed Sticks.

Knuckles could only give a look of confusion. Amy and Sticks could clearly tell that the red echidna understood absolutely nothing about this show whatsoever.

Then, suddenly …

A rumbling noise could be heard close to the village, and the civilians began to panic in fear of another potential Eggman attack.

Amy, Knuckles and Sticks immediately scurried out of Meh Burger and scanned the area for any possible threats.

Then, the trio spotted nine of Eggman's Badniks approaching the village.

"Sonic! The village is under attack!" Amy spoke into her wrist communicator, only to get a static response.

Then, she remembered that Sonic and Tails had left their wrist communicators at Tails' house.

"Oh, yeah," she sighed, "When they mean 'day off', they really mean it."

"'Day off' as in 'off in the hills'?" said Knuckles with a dull voice.

"No, Knuckles. She meant 'day off' as in 'off duty'," corrected Sticks.

"Listen, guys, we may not have Sonic and Tails with us, but we can still beat these robots without them, right?" said Amy.

Sticks got out her boomerang, prompting Amy to pull out her Piko Hammer. Knuckles pumped his fists.

"Let's take 'em down!" yelled Sticks.

With that, the three fighters charged at Eggman's Badniks.

The robots seemed to be a lot more difficult to defeat without Sonic and Tails in the action. To Team Sonic, it therefore felt slightly empty without them, but, nevertheless, they charged on.

Despite the robots being given a small upgrade by Eggman that enabled them to fight more aggressively, Amy, Knuckles and Sticks managed to bash them all to pieces like they had always done before.

With all the Badniks destroyed, the trio of fighters received applause from the villagers that had seen it all. While they felt happy to be receiving praise, something still puzzled them.

"Why would Eggman's robots come crashing in on us now?" asked Amy, "I was sure Tails had knocked Eggman out of action for at least a few weeks with his Gold Ray."

"He probably just sent remote control robots from his lair," guessed Knuckles.

"Or maybe he's seeking revenge," put in Sticks.

Suddenly, upon hearing the word 'revenge', Amy had managed to build up in her head a possible theory as to why Eggman was attacking with his Badniks while still recovering from his own injuries …

She flashed back to Tails shooting the evil scientist with his Gold Ray, and it had left him with serious injuries that nearly killed him. Now that Eggman was still out of action, it was possible that he was plotting revenge against Tails for what the fox had done to him. It all made sense to her now.

"That's it!" she shouted on top of her lungs.

"What's it?" asked Knuckles and Sticks.

"Revenge!" replied Amy, "That's it! I have a theory that Eggman wants revenge on Tails for injuring him with his Gold Ray. He probably sent robots here under the impression that Sonic and Tails were here."

"You mean, Eggman has no knowledge of their absence?" said Sticks with wide eyes of astonishment.

"Exactly!" said Amy, "And I think we should make sure it stays that way. We all know what happened last time Sonic and Tails took some time off duty."

"Sonic and Tails took a nice vacation, and Eggman spied on them getting ready so he could get ready to attack us in their absence and take over the island," said Knuckles.

"Yes! So, if Eggman were to become aware that Sonic and Tails are M.I.A. again, you know what he would have up his sleeve," said Amy, "We should be on the lookout for any possible spy bots on the loose. We don't want him spying on us like he did last time."

"I'm on it!" replied Sticks as she began sniffing the surrounding area for any signs of Eggman's tiny spy bots eavesdropping on them.

"I meant that we can still stick around here and do our normal activities, but we just need to be alert," advised Amy.

"Right then," replied Knuckles, "I'll check Tails' house and make sure I don't catch any spy cameras finding his place empty."

"Go to it, then!" said Amy.

Knuckles took off running towards Tails' house, while Amy went down to check on Sonic's shack. Sticks, in the meantime, searched every building in the village for Eggman's spy bots. The last thing they wanted was for Eggman to find out that Sonic and Tails were taking a day off.

* * *

 _ **And so, the tensions have risen back at home. While Sonic, Tails and Zooey are continuing their peaceful day off, oblivious to everything happening back at Seaside Coast, Amy, Knuckles and Sticks now have their hands full as Dr. Eggman is suspected to be on the verge of finding out that Sonic and Tails are absent.**_

 _ **Will Dr. Eggman find out that Team Sonic's two brother-like leaders are M.I.A.? What do you think Eggman has in store to plot his revenge on Tails, now that Amy's theory is highly possible?**_

 ** _Another thing I've managed to accomplish is that Zooey finally has her own backstory! What did you think of it? Oh, and how do you think Zooey's lesson will effect Sonic's personality?_**

 _ **As usual, don't forget to review, and until the next chapter, … goodnight!**_


	7. Chapter 6: Things Turn Cold

_**And so, as my second week of Public Speaking is underway, this is really beginning to challenge my stress level.**_

 _ **Now, a couple of reviews for the previous chapter were asking me what M.I.A. meant. It's an abbreviation for "Missing In Action." Sonic and Tails were considered M.I.A. by Amy, because they're taking the day off from their regular duties.**_

 _ **Anyways, here's another brotherly fluff-filled chapter of Sonic and Tails' Day Off, where things are about to take a turn for the worse back at home.**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 6**_

 _ **Things Turn Cold**_

* * *

Doctor Eggman was resting on his couch within his island fortress, wearing his pink pajamas and watching hopelessly as Amy, Knuckles and Sticks easily defeated his Badniks. The evil doctor had taken a nasty hit from Tails' Gold Ray the other day, and was wanting to get back at Tails for leaving him stuck on the couch.

Among the injuries Eggman received from Tails?

Both legs were broken, which meant that he had to use a wheelchair to get around his lair. His left arm took a nasty hit, and he had a wear a cast at all times. He received a bang on the head from crashing into Amy's house, which led to occasional migraine headaches. Also, his back was slightly bent after crash-landing into Sticks' orchard. It looked as though it would take about a month for Eggman to recover from his multiple injuries.

However, while the Badniks were fighting Team Sonic by virtue of a remote control device set up by Eggman, his cameras caught many punches from Amy, Knuckles and Sticks, but what surprised Eggman was that Sonic and Tails were nowhere to be seen on any of the cameras within the Badniks, which were soon all destroyed by the team's efforts.

"That's funny," Eggman said to himself, "I could swear that I never caught a glimpse of Sonic or Tails at any point during that fight, … and Tails was the one I wanted!"

The evil scientist slumped back on his couch, only for a sting of pain to enter his back.

"UGH!" the villain screamed in agony. "WHY DOES IT HAVE TO HURT JUST TO REST MY BACK!?"

Orbot and Cubot suddenly came bursting into the room with alarmed looks on their … faces (if you want to put it that way; they're only robots with no souls).

"Are you in need of some pain medication, Doctor?" asked Orbot.

"I'll get the medication I really need once I've beaten Tails in a battle! After all, he's the one who turned me into this mess of a slob!" yelled Eggman furiously.

"Did it all go so wrong again?" asked Cubot.

"For one thing, yes! Those robots were all trashed, but what's gotten me even more pissed off is that Tails wasn't even there, and neither was Sonic!" replied Eggman.

"Well, maybe they're off duty today," assumed Cubot.

"How would that make any sense?" asked Eggman.

"Well, … think of what happened when Tails hit you with his weapon," suggested Orbot.

"Don't you dare bring that up again!" Eggman shot back, "I can't stand it when two robots whom I can't stand remind me of my previous failures!"

"But, Doctor, I was just saying-" Orbot began, only for Eggman to cut him off …

"Get out! GET OUT!" the doctor screamed on top of his lungs, so hard that he stressed his back and felt even more pain, "AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

Out of absolute fear and shock, Orbot and Cubot instantly turned their backs on Eggman and scurried out of the room, leaving him all alone.

A moment later, once he had gotten over his back pain, Eggman started remembering what had happened once Tails shot him with the Gold Ray …

* * *

" _I'll send you on a one-way ticket back to your garbage house for that, you MONSTER!" Tails screamed at Eggman after the doctor had insulted the fox's twin tails, "CALL ME A FREAK AGAIN! I DARE YOU!"_

 _Suddenly, out of Tails' Gold Ray came a ray of golden plasma coming straight towards Eggman. The villain was blasted off his feet and went flying into Amy's house, wrecking nearly everything inside. Then he bounced off the table and was sent soaring straight into Knuckles' cave. The doctor crashed into the echidna's bed and went bouncing right out of the cave and crash-landed into Sticks' orchard, which knocked him out instantly. He then brushed against the soil, killing half of the plants within the orchard._

* * *

Then, a thought struck him.

"Hmm. Maybe due to the damage left at all of those places, could it be that the team got so pissed off at Tails and decided to blame him?" Eggman said to himself, "Since Sonic is so protective of Tails' well-being, maybe once he found out, he decided to give Tails the day off to help him get over what happened."

Then, it all added up. This made perfect sense!

"Yes! I got it!" the doctor said to himself, "Sonic and Tails are taking the day off because of what Tails did to me!"

Then, a very evil idea flew into the mad scientist's brain.

"Oh, just you wait, Tails! You think you may be enjoying today with Sonic, but just wait until you get home and you'll have no idea what's in store for you! AAAAH, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"

Just then, his back lashed out in pain again due to his excessive laughter.

"AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" came Eggman's scream echoing throughout his island fortress.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails and Zooey had reached Bygone Island's icy territory. Temperatures dropped way down, and it soon became apparent that their own fur wasn't enough to keep them warm.

It had been about three hours since they had eaten their lunch, and now that Tails' nose was completely healed from the consequences of the Gold Ray incident, things were only getting better for the trio of explorers. They had decided to venture back into the canyon and explore some more of the jungle just for the sake of exploring. Sonic and Tails had shared some more laughs and brotherly moments, then Tails got to enjoy a few love-making sessions with Zooey at points where they stopped.

As the trio entered the cold air of the snowy mountains, they each pulled their jackets out of their backpacks and put them on over their chests to keep themselves warm in the cold. Sonic wore a blue jacket, Tails' was yellow, and Zooey's was in a beautiful crimson shade of red.

"Well, at least we can keep our chests warm," commented Zooey.

"Yeah, but what about our legs?" added Sonic.

"I guess there's nothing we can do for our legs other than just sit down and cover them every once in a while," said Tails.

Sonic and Zooey agreed with their fox friend, and the three set off into the snowy mountains.

Sure enough, as they had expected, after just half of a mile of walking, their legs grew cold, so they had to sit down and tuck their legs into their jackets to warm them back up.

"(sigh) I don't know what we were thinking coming here," said Sonic.

"Look at the bright side, Sonic," replied Tails, "We've explored nearly the entire island at this point, and we still have a few hours before we're expected to return home."

"True, … but where do you think we'll go from here after we're finished up here?" asked Zooey.

"We could get some more fruit down in the jungle once the sun starts setting," suggested Tails.

"Sunset's still a few hours away!" protested Sonic, "I couldn't possibly wait that long!"

"Sometimes, good things happen to those who wait, Sonic," said Zooey.

Sonic exchanged a strange half-grin with Zooey. She could tell that he had no interest in waiting to get out of the cold.

Just then, an idea hatched into Tails' head; one which he felt would make Sonic enjoy this place.

The hedgehog noticed his fox brother's grin as he appeared to be deep in thought.

"Daydreaming again, Tails?" asked Sonic.

"Not quite daydreaming," the two-tailed fox replied, "I'm thinking of something fun."

"Whaddaya mean, fun?" asked Sonic curiously.

With that, Tails ran off into a big pile of snow and started piling up some snowballs.

"Oh, boy," Sonic said to himself as he noticed what Tails was doing, "I hope he doesn't plan to hit me with any of them."

But his hopes were to be dashed …

"Sonic! Look out!" yelled Zooey as she spotted a snowball flying directly towards Sonic.

Sonic looked in the direction Zooey was pointing, only for a snowball to smack him directly in the face, much to his surprise.

"Agh!" the hedgehog yelled.

Down the hill below, Tails was laughing hysterically as he saw what had happened. He appeared to be enjoying himself tremendously.

But not for long …

A snowball suddenly smacked Tails' face, and he fell into the snow, landing on his back.

The fox looked up and found Sonic and Zooey laughing at him.

"Okay! Which one of you threw that at my face!?" he asked angrily.

Zooey immediately pointed at Sonic, much to the hedgehog's dismay.

"Nice job, Zooey! Now Tails will want revenge!" Sonic complained.

"Well, you had extracted revenge on him, so it could only be fitting," commented Zooey.

"Oh! It's on!" yelled Tails as he rolled up another snowball and threw it at Sonic.

The hedgehog dodged the attack by curling into a ball and speeding down the hill towards Tails.

"You are so unfair!" complained Tails.

"Unfair, you say?" replied Sonic, instantly picking up another snowball and tossing it right at Tails' face.

"Ugh!" groaned Tails as he wiped the snow off his face, "Eat snow, hedgehog!"

The fox grabbed another snowball and threw it right at Sonic's face.

Zooey watched from the top of the hill as the two brothers ultimately engaged in a brotherly snowball fight. She laughed her head off as she lost count of how many snowballs the two had splattered each other with.

Over the next few minutes, Sonic and Tails threw so many snowballs at each other that they were now covered from head to toe in snow, but they weren't tired just yet.

Tails then leaped onto Sonic the same way he had done back in the jungle earlier that morning, and knocked him down into the snow. Then, the two brothers started rolling around in the snow, trying to get the upper hand in arm wrestling and pinning each other to the ground.

Eventually, they wore themselves out with their playful fight, and it ended with Sonic pinning Tails to the ground, "Lion King" style.

"Looks like I win this time, bro!" teased Sonic.

"Oh, I'm not finished just yet, Sonic!" replied Tails.

The fox charged at his brother again, and the two went rolling down the hill, curled together in a ball, before Sonic once again pinned Tails down.

"I win again!" the hedgehog teased.

Tails smacked his own forehead, feeling defeated.

"You're suddenly so good at this, and I'm not," the fox complained.

"Hey. C'mon, little buddy. We're just having fun," said Sonic.

"Ya think that you beating me every time is fun for me?" protested Tails.

Sonic sighed, feeling sorry for Tails.

"Sorry, lil' bro," the hedgehog said as he got off Tails and allowed him to sit up, "Sometimes I tend to go a little hyper while having fun."

"So you've told me a few times before," replied Tails.

"The only thing that really matters is that it's always fun no matter what the result is," explained Sonic, "Just the fact that we're doing it is fun. Don't feel so down on yourself just because you can't win every time."

Tails looked thoughtfully at Sonic. He knew his brother was right.

"I'm sorry I played a little rough on ya, lil' bro," Sonic apologized.

"I'm sorry, too, bro, … since … I'm the one that really started the whole thing," replied Tails.

"Doesn't matter to me who started it," said Sonic, "It's the fun that finishes it!"

The two brothers chuckled and pulled each other in for a brotherly hug.

"I love you, Sonic," said Tails.

"I love you, too, Tails," replied Sonic, kissing the fox on the forehead in brotherly fashion.

Tails returned the kiss on Sonic's muzzle, and the two broke apart as Zooey rejoined them.

"You two really are great brothers!" she commented with a chuckle.

Sonic and Tails laughed and hugged each other again.

"Yeah!" giggled Sonic, "That's us alright!"

"Brothers forever!" agreed Tails.

After the brothers ended their hug, Zooey pulled Tails in for a romantic hug and kiss, making the fox blush deeply.

"I love you, Zooey," said Tails sweetly.

"I love you, too, Tails," replied Zooey.

Sonic grinned at the sight of Tails and Zooey sharing their passionate love for each other.

"Now then, … I'd say it's time we head back into the warm stuff," the hedgehog announced.

Tails and Zooey broke apart and kissed each other one more time before the three walked back up the hill to retrieve their backpacks.

"Well, since we still have a few hours, why don't we relax in the jungle for a little while?" suggested Zooey.

"Good idea," agreed Tails.

"I'm in," said Sonic.

The trio slid their backpacks back on and headed down the snow-covered hill back towards the jungle.

"That was a lot of fun!" chuckled Tails to Sonic.

"It sure was, little bro!" agreed Sonic, pulling Tails back in for another embrace.

It took them a few minutes to get out of the snow since the cold air nearly froze their legs again, but the three managed to push on and eventually make it back into the jungle. Then, they took their jackets off and slid them back into their backpacks before continuing on into the lush-covered jungle.

* * *

Back in the village at Seaside Coast, Sticks had not been able to find any of Eggman's spy bots, and she was now sitting at Meh Burger, along with Amy and Knuckles, who also had negative results in their searches for spy bots at Sonic's shack and Tails' house, respectively.

"I still have a hunch," said Sticks, "Even if there aren't any spy bots, I still have a bad feeling about something."

"About what?" asked Knuckles.

"If Eggman was using a remote control to fight us with his robots, wouldn't there have been cameras in them?" asked Sticks.

"That sounds very possible," pondered Amy, "You can't use a remote control without seeing what you're doing, and since Eggman is stuck in his lair, maybe he might have used cameras."

"But then, that means he could have noticed that Sonic and Tails are not here," said Sticks.

"So, therefore he didn't _need_ any spy bots," assumed Knuckles, "He had the cameras in his remote-controlled … -"

He suddenly paused, and the three all shared horrified looks. They were sure that Eggman had likely found out that Sonic and Tails were taking today off.

"Oh, Chaos!" they all screamed.

* * *

"Just you wait, Tails! You'll get what's coming to you!" Eggman shouted in delight with an evil laugh as he watched his robots creating the latest weapon which he planned to use in his next evil scheme.

* * *

 _ **No, your eyes did NOT deceive you. Eggman has gained knowledge of Sonic and Tails taking the day off, and now Tails may get a nasty surprise when he, Sonic and Zooey return home that evening. Amy, Knuckles and Sticks will now REALLY have their hands full as they try to figure out how Eggman plans to pay Tails back for the Gold Ray incident.**_

 _ **What do you think Eggman's robots have in the works for his new plan? Will Team Sonic find out what their archenemy is plotting against Tails?**_

 _ **Those questions will be answered in the next chapter, but until then feel free to imagine what could be Eggman's new creation!**_

 _ **As always, please review, and I'll see you in the next chapter!**_


	8. Chapter 7: The Evening Boom

_**Sorry that the wait for this next chapter had to take a few days, but now that I'm free for the weekend, we can finally get to the closing stages of Sonic and Tails' day off (not as in the story's closing stages, but rather the mini-vacation's closing stages).**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 7**_

 _ **The Evening Boom**_

* * *

The sun was now beginning to set over Bygone Island. The skies had turned from blue to yellowish-orange, creating a beautiful sight for people who liked to watch the sunset.

However, for three particular heroes, tonight was not feeling so beautiful …

Amy, Knuckles and Sticks sat at Meh Burger with horrified faces. They were now completely aware of the truth of their situation, and it wasn't pretty at all. Eggman had discovered that Sonic and Tails were taking the day off, and they were sure that their nemesis was probably at work with a potential new threat to eliminate them.

"I can't believe this!" yelled Knuckles as he slammed his fist against the table, "What a cheat he is!"

"We're just moments away from coming face-to-face with a new version of Monsterbot that obliterates us all!" screamed Sticks, "We gotta get outta here!"

"Sticks, I'm sure Eggman isn't building a replacement for Monsterbot," Amy reassured Sticks, "Then again, if it were to attack, it'd probably target Tails instead of us. What we gotta do is somehow find a way to contact Sonic, Tails and Zooey before it's too late."

"And how do we do that?" asked Knuckles, "They don't have their wrist communicators with them, and I doubt Tails brought any of his gadgets with him."

"Sonic mentioned that Tails was taking a few gadgets with him in case they got bored," Amy reminded them, "If we can somehow … communicate with anything he took with him, maybe they'll pick up the distress call."

"That's a good idea," agreed Knuckles.

"Let's get this over with before Eggman has a chance to blow up everything!" shouted Sticks.

Without another word, the three heroes left Meh Burger and stormed towards Tails' house. As far as they were concerned, there was only one hope they could have at contacting their fox friend.

* * *

Back in the jungle, Sonic, Tails and Zooey were still seemingly having the time of their lives. Tails had gotten out an invention he had created that could help him examine the contents of the many fruits that littered the ground and the trees above. It was in a shade of yellow that matched the color of his fur, and it featured the latest in scanning technology, all topped off with a high quality touchscreen.

The fox cleverly named it the 'FruitScan', since it was only used for fruits.

At the moment, Tails was examining the contents of a cantaloupe that had fallen off a tree not too long ago. Zooey was sitting beside her boyfriend, staring in amazement at the FruitScan's screen as the many details of the cantaloupe appeared before their very eyes in encyclopedia-style. The screen told them that cantaloupes were free of fat and cholesterol, had very low sodium and featured high amounts of vitamins A and C. The two lovebirds enjoyed what they were reading.

Sonic, meanwhile, was running around at random places like he always would, but he never ran so far so as to lose sight of Tails and Zooey. To be honest, he really didn't have much interest in studying fruits as much as Zooey was.

"Hmm. Fifty calories for a single cantaloupe? Doesn't sound bad at all," commented Zooey, "It's nice to not have too many calories."

"True," agreed Tails.

"I like it that you've found interest in fruits, sweetie," Zooey said soothingly, "Maybe one day you'll know almost as much as my family."

"Oh, I doubt that," replied Tails, "I've got a great strength for aviation and technology, but I don't have one for fruit."

"I know, but I can always teach you stuff about fruits if you're interested," said Zooey.

Tails smiled at his girlfriend.

"Thanks, Zooey," the fox said cutely.

"You're welcome, Tails," the vixen replied, hugging him.

"I love you, Zooey," whispered Tails.

"I love you, too, Tails," replied Zooey.

"I think I'm feeling so much better now, regarding my inner emotions," said Tails.

"Really?" said Zooey with a grin of hope on her face.

"Yeah," replied Tails, "I feel as if I could walk into my workshop and build just about anything right now."

Zooey giggled, "I'm happy to hear that, Tailsy."

Tails giggled in return, and the two embraced in a loving hug, followed by some romantic kisses that made their hearts beat like there was no tomorrow for their romance.

Sonic stopped by a nearby tree and caught a glimpse of Tails and Zooey kissing like they were in their own dreamworld of love. The hedgehog sighed and kept his eyes on his brother having a romantic time. He felt happy for him.

" _I think it's fair for me to assume that this day off has cured Tails' very well of his depression,"_ Sonic thought to himself, _"He'll definitely be right back to work tomorrow morning, or maybe even go flying in his plane. I haven't seen him fly for at least a week."_

Tails and Zooey then looked into each others' eyes with such extreme passion. They felt as if nothing in the world could compare to how much they loved each other. They felt as happy as they had ever been together, and everything felt right with the world.

"I've never met a girl that was as beautiful as you," Tails whispered to Zooey.

"I've never met a boy that was as adorable as you," replied Zooey, making Tails blush deeply, "I think Amy was right when she said that you were so adorable, because that's exactly what you are, Tails; so adorable."

"Aww, Zooey!" Tails replied, his cheeks as red as they ever had been.

The two then kissed each other passionately again, while Sonic watched discreetly, feeling happy for Tails that he had a loving girl in his life.

* * *

Amy, Knuckles and Sticks had just reached Tails' workshop, and the three were now searching every shelf for something they could use to contact Tails and Sonic. Sticks was behaving a little cowardly since she did NOT trust technology one bit. Amy and Knuckles were going at it, though, searching not only the tool shelves, but also the drawers within the fox's desk. So far, though, nothing had popped up that looked useful enough for their situation.

"This is ridiculous! There's gotta be something around here we can use!" yelled Knuckles furiously.

"Surely, Tails has built something other than our wrist communicators which can be a useful communication device!" added Amy.

"What else has he been hiding from us!?" asked Sticks, "Weapons of mass destruction!?"

"Sticks, Tails would never build anything like that!" protested Amy, "He knows better than to even think of making something like that! He always handles these things discreetly."

"Hey! Guys! I think I found something!" called Knuckles.

Amy was quite surprised that Knuckles could tell he had found something useful.

" _Maybe he **can** understand a thing or two about technology after all,"_ she thought to herself.

The two girls joined Knuckles at Tails' desk, and the echidna revealed that he had found two small, unpainted LCD screens with a handle at the bottom and a miniature receiver on top.

"What do you think these are?" asked Knuckles curiously.

"These look like video communication devices," guessed Amy.

"Then why are they not painted?" asked Sticks, "Everything's always yellow around here."

"Because they must be prototypes that Tails hasn't tested yet," suggested Amy, "Maybe they're not finished."

"However, that doesn't mean we can't try one of them out. I'm sure he won't mind," said Knuckles.

Amy sighed. She hoped Knuckles was right, and she knew that Tails had told them never to touch his untested prototypes until the fox had approved them for use.

"There's only one way to find out," said Amy.

"But what if Tails doesn't have one with him?" said Sticks worryingly.

"We'll just have to take a wild guess," replied Amy, "It may be the only hope we have of contacting Tails before Eggman attacks again."

"Let's just hope it can operate properly," said Knuckles worryingly.

Without a second thought, Amy took one of the devices and flipped on the power switch.

Amazingly, the screen turned on, and within a few moments, she was looking at a selection screen showing the names of all members of Team Sonic, except Sticks, whom Tails was sure would not want one.

Amy pressed her finger against Tails' name, but nothing happened.

"I guess he hasn't put a touchscreen in this one," she said sadly, "Or maybe he plans to, but hasn't gotten around to doing it yet."

Instead, she pressed the 'right' button on the miniature control panel to scroll over to Tails' name and picture, and she then pressed the button at the center of the panel.

A yellow light came flashing next to the screen, indicating that it was trying to pick up Tails' signal.

* * *

Back in the jungle, Tails and Zooey were still making love with each other, feeling as if nothing could break them apart.

Then, suddenly …

A beeping noise was heard inside Tails' backpack.

"What the heck?" the fox said with a dumbfounded look on his face.

Reluctantly, Tails and Zooey broke apart from each other, and the two-tailed kitsune pulled the beeping gadget out of his backpack.

It appeared to be exactly the same model as the one Amy was now using in the workshop, only this one was painted yellow, indicating that it was Tails' for his own to keep.

Sure enough, an orange light was flashing next to the screen; each flash accompanied by a high-pitched beep. To Tails, it meant that someone was trying to contact him.

"Why would I be receiving a signal on this?" he asked himself, "All of the others I've built have never been tested yet! This doesn't make sense at all!"

Sonic rushed over to Tails and Zooey, feeling just as dumbfounded as Tails was.

"I don't know, little buddy," the hedgehog said, "I guess you'd better make sure it isn't anything serious."

Tails reluctantly pressed the center button on his control panel to see where the signal was coming from

Just then, the screen revealed Amy, Knuckles and Sticks inside Tails' workshop.

"What!?" the fox yelled, "What do they think they're doing!?"

"Tails! Sonic!" shouted Amy in the screen, "Oh! Thank Chaos we found you!"

"Yeah, but what are you doing in Tails' workshop?" asked Sonic.

"And what are you doing with my untested prototype!?" Tails demanded to know, "You know you're not supposed to touch those!"

"Listen, Tails! We're sorry we had to snoop around your workshop and all, but we have some information for you!" informed Amy.

"What are you talking about?" asked Sonic.

"This may sound crazy, but Eggman sent nine of his robots into the village, … even though he wasn't there!" said Knuckles.

"We had to bash them all!" added Sticks.

Sonic and Tails were left extremely puzzled. They had no idea that Eggman could attack his team in the village even though he was stuck in his lair with injuries inflicted from Tails' Gold Ray.

"How could that be?" the hedgehog asked.

"They were remote-controlled," answered Knuckles.

"However, that also meant that he had cameras in them so he could see what he was doing. Our fear is that in doing so, he found out that you were taking today off, and now he's probably hatching his next evil scheme!" Amy explained.

Zooey gasped in horror, prompting Tails to gently wrap an arm around her shoulder to assure her that everything would be okay.

"So, … are you saying that you want us back as quickly as possible?" asked Tails.

"Yes! We're sorry we had to call you back here so abruptly, but something just isn't right here!" answered Amy.

The trio of explorers sighed disappointingly. They hoped they could get as much time as they needed away from all of their usual stuff, but it seemed as if that wasn't going to happen today.

Tails was especially disappointed. He really did NOT want to go into his workshop today, feeling that he wasn't quite ready to get back to his tools, but he didn't want Bygone Island to get into any danger, and neither did Sonic.

"You wanna head back, lil' bro?" Sonic asked Tails.

Tails sighed unhappily again, "Alright, guys. Let's go home."

Suddenly, a massive boom was heard just a couple of miles away.

"What the hell was that!?" said an alarmed Sonic.

Zooey gulped worryingly.

"I hope that wasn't anything you can't handle," she said nervously.

* * *

Meanwhile, Amy, Knuckles and Sticks had also heard the loud boom, and they knew right away it could only be Eggman's potential new threat.

"Guys, meet us at the beach! We'll rendezvous there and investigate!" came Sonic's voice in the prototype screen.

"Okay! You got it!" replied Amy before turning the screen off and placing it back on Tails' desk with the other prototypes.

"Eggman's on the loose! I just know it!" yelled Sticks.

"Let's get to the beach now!" said Amy.

"Hang on a sec! I'll grab their wrist communicators!" called Knuckles as he headed out the door and opened the door to Tails' house.

Amy and Sticks didn't have to wait for long as Knuckles soon returned with Sonic and Tails' wrist communicators.

"We'll hand these to Sonic and Tails once they've joined us at our intended spot!" the echidna explained.

"Right then! Let's go!" shouted Amy.

The trio instantly ran off towards the place they were sure the boom came from.

* * *

"Let's meet them at the beach," said Sonic as Tails put his communicator back into his backpack.

"Please don't push yourself too hard, Tailsy," Zooey told Tails as she took his hand.

"Don't worry, Zooey. We'll be just fine," Tails reassured her.

Without another word, Tails lifted Zooey using his twin tails and took off flying, while Sonic sped through the jungle at his supersonic speed. They could only hope that Eggman wasn't up to anything serious.

* * *

Within just a few minutes, Amy, Knuckles and Sticks had found the location where the explosion had happened …

There was a large chunk of metal that appeared to be the midsection of a small passenger plane. Smoke was oozing out at multiple spots to indicate that it had, indeed, crash-landed. What was strange, though, was that there was no smoke coming from anywhere else in the area. If there was a plane's midsection up in smoke on the beach, then where was the cockpit or the tail section?

"That's odd," said Knuckles, "It looks as if a plane crashed here."

"Then where's the cockpit … or the tail section?" asked Amy, "There's nothing else here."

"I have a feeling this is a plot!" Sticks assumed, "AN EVIL ONE!"

Just then, the three caught sight of Sonic, Tails and Zooey speeding towards the scene from the jungle.

"Hey!" Sticks called, waving her hands frantically.

Sonic skidded to a stop right in front of his teammates, while Tails lowered Zooey back onto the ground feet-first before lowering himself.

"Here!" said Knuckles as he tossed Sonic and Tails their wrist communicators.

The two team leaders caught their communicators and slid them onto their wrists before turning them on.

"Okay, guys. What seems to be the problem here?" asked Sonic as he inspected the chunk of metal that had crashed.

"Looks like a plane crash," said Tails, "Only … there's just the midsection, and nothing else is anywhere near here."

"Something just doesn't add up here," added Knuckles.

Just then, they heard Tails gasp as he was inspecting the back end.

"It's Eggman!" the fox yelled, "He sent this down here!"

What Tails had spotted was a giant Eggman logo painted on the back end of the plane section.

"I KNEW IT!" screamed Sticks, "IT'S ANOTHER EVIL PLOT, MAN!"

"Okay, okay!" shouted Sonic in an effort to calm Sticks down, "Let's not jump into any immediate conclusions just yet! We need to find out what this is, and what Eggman's … -"

"LOOK OUT!" screamed Zooey on top of her lungs with a horrified look on her face ...

... as the plane section suddenly moved.

* * *

 _ **Sorry I had to stop here, but I felt that this was the perfect cliffhanger for a chapter like this.**_

 _ **What do you think Team Sonic is about to face? What will emerge from this so-called plane section? That will be answered in the next chapter, where Team Sonic may be coming face-to-face with another horrific creation by Eggman!**_

 _ **As usual, please don't forget to review, and I'll be back for chapter eight! :)**_


	9. Chapter 8: Capture

_**Well, it's official. Their mini vacation is over, and now Team Sonic find themselves coming face-to-face with another new Eggman threat!**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 8**_

 _ **Capture**_

* * *

The five heroes turned to the plane section just in time to see four legs bud out from either side. The legs extended to the point where they looked like spider limbs, and they came crashing down to the ground.

Then, what was believed to be a plane section lifted itself off the ground just before a horrific-looking insect head came ripping out through the front end. Its eyes were in a bloody shade of red, and its mouth was filled with saw-edged teeth.

"HOLY FREAKING CHAOS!" screamed Amy in horror.

"IT'S A GIANT INSECT!" added Knuckles.

"RUN!" yelled Tails.

Knowing that they couldn't fight this insect without a potential casualty, Team Sonic, along with Zooey, started running through the beach to escape from the insect.

Suddenly, the insect jumped high off the ground and came crashing down right in the path of the heroes. Then, it let out a monstrous roar, so loud that the six were all forced to cover their ears. They all screamed, except for Sonic.

"WE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE NOW!" yelled Sticks.

"HOW CAN WE DO THAT WITH THIS MONSTER IN OUR WAY!?" growled Knuckles.

As soon as the insect stopped screaming, one of its legs grabbed Zooey and lifted her off the ground. The vixen was screaming in fear as she tried to free herself.

Tails had seen it all, and he stared at his girlfriend in horror.

"ZOOEY!" the fox screamed as loud as he could.

Team Sonic could only watch in awe as the insect proceeded to toss Zooey into its mouth, swallowing her whole without chewing so as not to seriously harm her.

"ZOOEY!" Tails screamed again in disbelief.

"That thing just ate our friend!" shouted Knuckles.

Without a second thought, Tails sprang into action, curling into a ball and preparing for a Spin Dash.

"Tails! What are you doing!?" yelled Sonic, his overprotective brotherly instincts taking over, "You know we can't beat that thing using direct force!"

"Tails! Don't do this! Back off!" added Amy.

"It's too dangerous!" said Sticks.

Tails ignored his team and sped up to Eggman's insect with a Spin Dash.

However, Tails only bounced off the robot, which didn't take any damage whatsoever, much to the team's dismay.

The fox came back down, uncurling himself in the process.

"Tails! You coulda been hurt!" yelled Sonic, grabbing Tails by the arm in an attempt to pull him away from the robot.

Tails resisted and continued glaring at the insect.

"RELEASE ZOOEY! NOW!" the fox screamed.

"Tails! Please! We gotta find another way!" Sonic insisted.

Then, out of nowhere …

"Nice try, two-tailed freak!" came Eggman's voice in the robot's intercom, catching everyone off guard.

"Don't you dare call my brother that name!" shouted Sonic, knowing that Tails couldn't take being called a 'freak', the one word that had hurt the fox so much in his troubled childhood.

Eggman ignored him and continued on …

"Thanks largely to your efforts, Tails, I have now created an astounding new breed of robotic creatures, which I would like to introduce to you as … Spider Bot!"

The five heroes were dumbfounded by that name.

"Wait a minute! Spiders are not insects!" protested Tails.

"I don't care! I can call it whatever I want!" Eggman shot back, "Had you not been so abusive towards me with that pathetic boomerang-like weapon of yours, freak, your little girlfriend's impending doom would have been quick and painless, … but now that you've really pissed me off, … I'm gonna have my army of robots finish her … nice … and slow!"

Everyone gasped in horror, while Tails glared furiously at Eggman's creation, gritting his teeth and hyperventilating as if he was about to have a panic attack. The thought of his girlfriend suffering like that felt like the worst thing that could ever happen to him.

"Zooey and I!?" added Eggman, "We're gonna have a hell of a time! AAAH, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HAAA!"

"Release Zooey immediately!" demanded Tails.

"Or what? You'll come to my lair with your new weapon and cause more boredom and trouble between you and your team?" assumed Eggman, "I don't think so! SPIDER BOT! DESTROY THEM ALL!"

"Let's get outta here!" called Sonic, "We're not fighting that thing until we have everything prepared!"

The hedgehog instantly grabbed Tails and sped into the forest, followed by the rest of his team. Spider Bot made no attempt to chase them as it was too big to fit in through the trees, and instead it launched itself into the sky and blasted itself on its trip back to Eggman's lair.

* * *

In just a matter of seconds, Team Sonic found themselves right in front of Tails' house. They stopped and looked back to make sure Eggman's Spider Bot wasn't following them.

"I think we lost it," panted Amy.

Then, they turned towards the sunset and watched as Spider Bot, still carrying Zooey, flew through the skies on its way back to Eggman's lair.

"Zooey!" shouted Tails as tears spilled from his eyes, "Please! No!"

The poor fox could stare at Spider Bot no longer, and he collapsed to the ground and broke down in tears.

The rest of the team looked down at their fox friend and crouched down to comfort him.

"Tails, we're really sorry," soothed Amy.

"Please don't cry, little bro," added Sonic, lifting his brother and pulling him in for a hug, "It's okay, Tails."

"Nothing's okay," replied Tails, "All because of my stupid Gold Ray, Eggman wants revenge on me! How could I not cry when his robots are about to slowly torture my girlfriend to death all because of a stupid mistake I made!?"

The four other heroes all looked at each other with sorrowful faces. It seemed that Sonic's method of cheering up Tails and curing him of his depression was quickly washing away minute-by-minute. In just a matter of time, it was all being undone, and Tails was returning to the sad and depressed self he had been just yesterday afternoon when Sonic found him slumped on his desk in his workshop. In one swift move, Eggman had redone the damage he had done to Tails three days ago.

Sonic continued to hug Tails tightly in an effort to calm him down, but it seemed that the fox wouldn't calm down anytime soon. Then, the two brothers looked at each other. All Sonic could see was an expression of grief and sorrow. Tears were forming waterfalls that ran down Tails' white cheeks, which were blushing deep red in sadness.

Poor Tails.

Sonic could only keep his little brother in a tight embrace as he stood up and carried him towards the door.

Amy opened the door, and the five all walked into Tails' living room before Amy closed the door behind them. Sonic carried Tails to his makeshift bed, and he placed the fox gently on his blankets.

Knuckles took a seat at the dining table, while Amy and Sticks sat down on one of Tails' sofas.

"What are we gonna do now?" Knuckles asked despondently.

"I'll tell you what we're gonna do," Sonic responded in a serious tone as he stood up and left Tails to cry on his bed, "We're gonna find a way to rip that insect into a million pieces … and save Zooey."

"How?" asked Amy, "Last time Eggman built something that big, none of us were able to fight that thing except for Tails!"

"Well, spending a ridiculous amount of time in a prison cell may not have been much help!" said Knuckles.

"Exactly! We weren't entirely prepared to take on Monsterbot when Eggman unleashed it from below our toes!" agreed Sticks.

"Well, this time, we'll **be** prepared!" said Sonic determinedly, "I think that the last thing Tails wants is to crash another plane into a giant robot! We lost the Tornado forever, and Tails will especially not want to lose his own plane!"

"I agree," said Amy.

"I want you all at your best once we come face-to-face with that eight-legged monstrosity," continued Sonic, "That insect could have anything up its sleeve."

"I'm _so_ not bringing my plane into this one," murmured Tails in between sniffles.

Sonic turned to see his little brother struggling to compose himself on his bed. The hedgehog sighed and walked over to him.

"You know we can't do this without you in the pilot seat, little bro," said Sonic.

"I meant 'into battle'," added Tails, sounding a little more impatient.

"Well, you can just use it to take us to Eggman's lair, and we'll use direct combat to take on Spider Bot," explained Amy.

"You guys can take on Spider Bot," said Tails, "I wanna personally give Eggman a piece of my mind!"

"Tails, … you know that Eggman's already hurt," protested Knuckles, "He wouldn't be able to defend himself without his robots."

At that moment, Tails stood up from his bed with a look of extreme fury on his face, and he screamed on top of his lungs …

"HE … HAS … MY … GIRLFRIEND!"

Everyone froze in shock and stared at Tails. He looked as if he wanted to knock them all out into next week. His teammates looked as if they were backing away from him out of absolute fear.

"Look! Don't ask me to participate in your stupid shit if you don't like the way I do it!" the fox yelled, "I wanna save Zooey from Eggman's crap heads, but all you wanna do is take on a big mechanical spider and let my girlfriend get tortured by robots as if she had signed up to donate her body to science!? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"

No one could reply, not even Sonic. They just stayed where they were, shocked from Tails' temper tantrum. They had never seen the fox so angry before in his life.

"Sure, Mobius laws may not prohibit the abuse you gave me for that stupid Gold Ray, which led to this big mess we're in now!" the kitsune continued as he walked slowly towards the kitchen, glaring coldly at Amy, Knuckles and Sticks, "But Chaos may not condemn me to leave my girlfriend to be RAPED BY ROBOTS!"

Tails then stormed into his bathroom and slammed the door as hard as he could …

"SLAAAAAAAM!" the door banged against the doorway, greatly shocking the fox's four teammates. Their heart pulses went up slightly for a few seconds as they tried to fight off the sudden shock.

Sonic slowly walked over to the bathroom door. Sure enough, he could hear the muffled sounds of Tails crying hysterically. The hedgehog sighed sadly, feeling sorry for his poor little brother. He then rejoined his teammates in the living room.

"Guys, … I think it's best if you wait over in the workshop," he said, "Just don't touch anything."

Knuckles immediately stood up from his chair in the kitchen, and walked over to the back door and opened it. Amy and Sticks followed him out of the house towards the workshop before they closed the door.

Sonic watched as the trio entered Tails' workshop and closed the door behind them. Once they were out of sight, the hedgehog sped back to the bathroom door and gently knocked.

"If it isn't Sonic, then go away and leave me alone!" came Tails' sad voice from inside.

"It's me, Tails," Sonic replied.

The hedgehog heard several bad sniffles from the fox before he replied, "Come in."

Sonic cautiously opened the door and spotted a miserable Tails.

The fox was sitting on his toilet, his tears having formed a small puddle on the floor below him. He looked as if he was grieving for a lost friend. Sonic had seen that look on Tails before. It was when he lost Cosmo at the end of the Metarex War that had happened some years before they moved to Bygone Island. Now it looked as if Tails was about to lose another girlfriend.

Sonic walked in and closed the door. He then sat on the floor in front of his crying brother. Tails gathered the courage to look up at his big brother, noticing a look of deep concern on the hedgehog's face.

"Tails?" the hedgehog whispered gently.

The fox uncovered his face and revealed wet, deep red cheeks. Sonic was saddened by his brother's expression, and he wanted nothing than to do something about his emotional state.

"So much for taking the day off," the fox whimpered.

"I'm really sorry, little bro," sighed Sonic sadly.

"Turns out we can't even be away for one _day_ without Eggman trying to get us all humiliated, even when he can't leave his lair," added Tails, "Why does life have to be so difficult? Couldn't we just get a break for at least ten minutes!?"

"I wish the same thing, buddy," agreed Sonic, "This just doesn't add up very well."

"All of this just because our friends were abusive towards me!" cried Tails as he slid off his toilet and landed on Sonic's lap, wrapping his arms around his neck.

Sonic returned the hug by wrapping his arms tightly around Tails' back.

"I lay in bed for a day with a broken nose, bruised cheeks and a bruised chest that prevented me from walking without aid. I take a day off with you so that you and Zooey can help me get out of my depression, and this is how Chaos thanks me?" sobbed Tails, "Eggman wants revenge on me, so he kidnaps Zooey, and is about to have her ripped apart by his robots!? Why, Sonic!? WHY!?"

With that, Tails started bawling again as the two hugged each other tightly.

Sonic simply listened sorrowfully as his brother cried onto his shoulder. His sniffles and sobs brought tears to the hedgehog's eyes as he tried hard not to start crying himself.

"I'm really so sorry, Tails," Sonic apologized again.

"It's not your fault, Sonic," replied Tails, "If it should be anyone's fault, … it's … (sniffle) … it's … -"

"No, Tails," said Sonic as the two made eye contact, "It's not your fault, either, Tails. If it really could be anyone's fault whatsoever, … it's Eggman's."

The hedgehog reached up towards a tissue box and pulled a tissue out for Tails.

"Wasn't he the one who started the chain reaction in the first place?" Sonic asked as he handed Tails the tissue.

"Yes," answered Tails, "But I only made it worse."

"Please stop beating yourself up, little bro," said Sonic, "None of this is your fault. Like I said, everyone makes mistakes now and then. Nobody's perfect."

"So you've told me," replied Tails sadly as he tried to compose himself, "But you've seen the large number of mistakes I've made over the last few … -"

Sonic placed a finger over Tails' mouth to shush him.

"Please, Tails," the hedgehog soothed his fox brother, "I understand your pain, but you can't always blame yourself for the bad things that happen to us. When good people make mistakes, they get right back up and keep going."

"I tried that, but … -" Tails began, but Sonic once again shushed him.

"And you'll try again," the hedgehog finished, "We're gonna take on Eggman, defeat his Spider Bot, and save Zooey, … and trust me, … it'll all work out."

"I hope it does," sniffled Tails.

"I know it will," replied Sonic.

The two embraced each other tightly again for a minute before once again making eye contact.

"I'm sorry, Sonic," cried Tails.

"Sorry? About what, little bro?" asked a confused Sonic.

"For blaming myself," Tails responded, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Tails," replied Sonic, "I know you're still upset with yourself, but I can help you put that aside."

Hearing those words brought some happiness to Tails' heart. He felt as if Sonic was more of a brother to him than ever before when he said those words.

"I feel like you're the only one I can turn to right now," Tails admitted, "Amy, Knuckles and Sticks may have forgiven me, … but … (sniffle) … I haven't forgiven them yet."

"I know, Tails," sighed Sonic, "We'll have to put that aside for now, though. Right now, we've got a robot to trash … and a friend to save."

"And … are you still gonna make me fight Spider Bot with my plane?" asked Tails sadly.

"No, bro," replied Sonic, which surprised Tails, "Amy, Knuckles, Sticks and I will fight Spider Bot once we've spotted it. You, on the other hand, can head up to Eggman's room … and save Zooey, … and if anything should go wrong, tell me right away, and I'll head up there to help you."

The hedgehog then gently patted the fox's left wrist, telling him that he would want to be told via their wrist communicators.

"Really?" said Tails with wide eyes.

"Really really," replied Sonic, "It's not just what being brothers is all about, … it's about what teamwork is all about, too."

Tails tearfully grinned at Sonic, and the hedgehog grinned back before they shared yet another tight hug.

"I love you, big bro," whispered Tails.

"I love you, too, little bro," replied Sonic, "Anything for you."

"Thank you so much, Sonic," sniffled Tails.

"You're welcome, Tails," said Sonic.

The two brothers looked into each others' eyes once again. At that moment, they felt very happy to have each other by their side, and their brotherly love for each other felt like the strongest thing on Mobius.

Eventually, the duo stood up, and Sonic wiped the remaining tears off of Tails' face. The fox then washed his face with sink water to remove the tear stains before drying himself off.

"Are you feeling okay now, Tails?" asked Sonic as he opened the door and led his brother out of the bathroom.

"Only a little," Tails replied, "It'll be a while before I get over this, though."

"But are you feeling okay enough to tackle Eggman? After all, Zooey needs rescuing," Sonic reminded him.

Tails put a determined look on his face upon hearing his girlfriend's name. He desperately wanted to save her, even if it meant risking his life to do so.

"I'd die for her if I had to," he replied.

"I hope you're not being serious when you put the word 'die' in there," said Sonic.

"Okay, Sonic," Tails responded before rephrasing his statement, "I'd risk everything for her if I had to."

"Sorry, little bro," Sonic apologized, "I just hope you don't get killed in action. You know how that would make me feel."

"I know, bro," replied Tails, "I just desperately want her back."

"And we'll all make sure that happens," said Sonic, "Now, c'mon, bro. Let's get the plane revved up."

The two brothers shared a brief grin before Tails answered, "I'm on it!"

Without another word, Tails led Sonic out of the house and into the workshop.

* * *

Amy, Knuckles and Sticks were waiting by the fox's desk, still feeling quite shocked from his temper tantrum just a few minutes ago. Then, the three noticed Sonic and Tails walking up to them. They all gulped, believing that Tails was about to yell at them again.

However, by now Tails had calmed himself down, thanks to Sonic, and he looked as if he was ready for action.

"Are you feeling okay, Tails?" asked Sticks nervously.

"How's about nobody ask me that particular question again until Zooey is saved!" the fox replied as he lifted himself with his two tails and hopped into the pilot seat of his yellow plane.

"Okay," said Knuckles awkwardly.

"C'mon, guys!" said Sonic, "We're off to Eggman's from here!"

"I assume we're using the Enerbeams," said Amy, knowing that the plane only had one passenger seat behind Tails' pilot seat.

"Ya think!" Tails snorted.

Amy, Knuckles and Sticks were quite surprised from Tails' pushy attitude.

"Just give him a break, guys," Sonic told his team, "There are things we can settle later, but more importantly, there are things that need to be settled now. Now, let's go!"

At that moment, Tails' plane's engines roared to life, and the nose propellers started spinning.

Without a moment's hesitation, Sonic sped towards the hangar-sized doors and opened them immediately. This prompted Tails to accelerate his plane out of the workshop and up into the orange sunset skies.

Amy, Knuckles and Sticks ran out of the workshop and waited with Sonic as Tails brought his plane down towards them.

Finally, after what felt like a long time to the team, Tails came down and charged up his Enerbeam to a strong enough level so he could fire four of them. He then fired his four Enerbeams down towards his teammates. The four each grabbed an Enerbeam, which each turned into a different color afterward.

"Oh, Zooey, … I hope you're okay," Tails murmured to himself as he aggressively jerked his control yoke towards the direction of Eggman's island fortress.

Team Sonic had to cling on tightly to their Enerbeams as Tails was acting abnormally with his flying.

"What's he doing!?" Amy asked Sonic worryingly as she grew worried about Tails.

"He's still not over what happened three days ago, and Zooey's capture has only made things worse," answered Sonic, "I think it's best if you leave him alone for now until this mission is over."

"I just hope he isn't hypnotized!" shouted Sticks.

"He isn't! He's just upset!" Knuckles replied to her.

Tails could faintly hear the voices of his teammates talking about him, but he didn't care to wonder what they were saying. He let the noise of his plane's engines and propellers take over his ears in an effort to ignore them as he let out huge sighs while keeping his hands glued to his control yoke.

Sonic, Amy, Knuckles and Sticks simply hung on to their Enerbeams and decided it was best that now was no time for words, especially given Tails' current emotional state. Although nobody could see the look on Tails' face right now, they guessed that his expression was a mixture of three things: upset at everything that had happened to him over the past few days, furious at Eggman for causing this chain reaction by calling him a freak … and kidnapping Zooey, and worried desperately for Zooey's safety.

Without anymore words, Team Sonic continued on their way towards Eggman's lair. Everyone felt worried for Tails, but Tails, himself, was in a completely different mindset …

All the fox really cared about … was Zooey.

* * *

 _ **In one sudden move, everything has taken a big twist. With Zooey now a captive of Eggman, Tails' emotions have come back to haunt him, but with a giant robotic spider ready to cross their path, can Team Sonic succeed in their mission?**_

 _ **Can Sonic and his friends defeat Spider Bot? Can Tails save Zooey from Eggman's robots of torture before it's too late? Will Eggman take on more evil motives towards Tails?**_

 _ **I've still got a couple of chapters to go. You can probably tell that I'm planning to have the climax be at least two or three chapters long, so I hope you're looking forward to an epic showdown!**_

 _ **Anyways, please review if you'd like, and until the next chapter, see ya soon!**_


	10. Chapter 9: Spider Bot

_**OMG! I'm being loaded with so much work right now that I can barely get any time for freedom! However, I managed to get just enough time to bring you this next chapter.**_

 _ **Enjoy, because it could be a while before the following chapters arrive, too!**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 9**_

 _ **Spider Bot**_

* * *

Zooey felt her entire body shiver as she struggled to free herself from a metal chair she was strapped to. All around her was darkness as she was locked in a dark room, guarded by robots. She was scared to death by the thought of what could happen to her next. There were only two things she was hoping for: for Eggman not to kill him, and for Team Sonic to come and save her.

Just then, the door to the room opened and shot out a ray of brightness that disturbed the vixen's vision. She shut her eyes and turned her head away from the door to fight off the disturbance in her eyes. She then opened her eyes again to see Eggman in a wheelchair, grinning evilly at her.

"What a delightful sight," the evil doctor whispered.

"What do you want?" asked Zooey as she tried to break free of the metal straps that were holding her arms to the chair, to no avail.

"I want to watch with sheer delight as my robots slowly tear you limb for limb. Then, I'll finish you off myself, … nice and slow," Eggman spoke with an intimidating voice.

Zooey gasped in horror as she heard those words from the villainous scientist. Nothing could describe how terrified she was of the idea of a crippled Eggman and his robots raping her to death. This felt like a nightmare coming true.

Hardly a moment later, her fears were confirmed when several small robots entered the room in possession of deadly weapons. The poor vixen once again tried shaking herself out of the chair, but once again it was no use.

"Now don't you worry, my dear. This won't hurt … much!" taunted Eggman with an evil laugh as the robots approached Zooey and were about to start cutting one of her legs off.

Suddenly, just as the chainsaws were beginning to rotate …

A loud beeping alarm echoed throughout the lair, and red lights flashed throughout the building.

"WHAT!? WHAT IS IT!?" Eggman screamed in fury and annoyance.

The robots backed away from Zooey and froze where they stood. The vixen let out a sigh of relief, which she hoped would last.

"If that's the blue pineapple, then I'll have his legs for dinner!" yelled Eggman before he turned to the robots that were guarding Zooey's chair, "Don't let her leave this room! If anyone tries to free her, kill them immediately!"

The villain wheeled himself out of the room, leaving Zooey alone with the robots, before the door closed and turned the entire room back to pure darkness. The vixen continued to breathe heavily as she feared that the robots guarding her could still tear her apart at any minute.

" _Tails! Please help me!"_ she thought as she sat back in the chair and stared off into the cold darkness of the room before she noticed a certain something hanging from the ceiling.

* * *

In the meantime, Team Sonic had just arrived at Eggman's lair using Tails' plane. Tails brought his four teammates down towards the ground, and the four released their Enerbeams and came down feet first. The fox continued to circle around the lair in his plane.

Only then, they heard an alarm go off from inside.

"Aw, man! We've been detected already!?" complained Knuckles, "We just got here!"

Right then and there, a large group of Badniks emerged from the front door and began their attack on the squad of heroes.

"Smash 'em!" ordered Sonic.

The hedgehog curled into a ball and started using his Spin Dash, Amy pulled out her Piko Hammer and started hitting everything she could get her eyes on, Knuckles aimed his fists at anything he could see, and Sticks pulled out her boomerang and slashed at everything her eyes could take notice of.

Tails, meanwhile, landed his plane in a small area behind the lair so that it couldn't be detected very easily. The fox shut the engines off and hoped out of his seat. He spun his two tails to steady his fall so that he came down with a soft landing. Then, he looked up at Eggman's lair, which looked very tall from where he was standing.

"Don't worry, Zooey. I'll have you out of there in no time," he whispered to himself as he stared up at the lair with a determined look on his face.

At that moment, Tails looked back down and noticed a doorway.

"Hmm," he said as a thought flew into his head, "I'm sure Eggman won't notice if I took the back door."

Without a second thought, the two-tailed fox walked up to the door and opened it. Sure enough, all that was ahead of him was a dark corridor which appeared to lead to nowhere.

"Sure hope this leads me somewhere," said Tails as he walked in and shut the door behind him.

Suddenly, it was silent as the fox ran down the corridor in hopes of finding his girlfriend. He was sure that he could be anywhere in this building, but, of course, so could Eggman, whom Tails knew was seeking revenge on him. This renewed the seething rage within the fox that was encouraging him to give Eggman a piece of his mind.

Soon, the kitsune reached the end of the corridor, and he spotted another door on his right-hand side. From within, he could hear the alarm that he and his team had set off, and he knew that from this point on he was entering the danger zone.

"Well, … here goes nothing," he said quietly as he slowly opened the door, the volume of the alarm rapidly increasing to the point of nearly forcing him to cover his ears so that he wouldn't go deaf.

The hallways were littered with red flashing lights which were so bright that the fox had to keep himself from looking directly at them.

The fox looked in both directions to make sure that none of Eggman's robots were within his sight distance.

There was no sign of life anywhere, biological or mechanical.

Feeling assured that the coast was clear, Tails walked in and closed the door, and he started snooping around the hallways in his effort to find Zooey.

* * *

Meanwhile, the area in front of the lair was now a mess of twisted metal and severed wires. At least fifteen Badniks had been dispatched to fend off Team Sonic, but they were now all in pieces.

Sonic, Amy, Knuckles and Sticks, all completely unharmed, walked up to the front door of the lair and opened it.

"Well, no Spider Bot around here," said Sonic, "It's probably waiting for us inside."

"Or it could be waiting for Tails to rescue Zooey and then attack him out of nowhere!" said Sticks suspiciously.

"What are the odds?" asked Knuckles.

"Maybe thirty percent," answered Amy.

"Well, in that case, we'd better get a move on and find that thing before it causes any harm to Tails … or Zooey," said Sonic.

With that, the four went sprinting through the front hallway and stopped at an intersection.

"Let's split up," said Sonic, "Amy, Sticks, you go to the right. Knuckles and I will go to the left."

"We're on it!" Amy and Sticks replied in unison as they ran down the right hallway.

Sonic and Knuckles then sprinted down the left hallway and began their search for Spider Bot.

"Wait up, Sonic! I'm not as fast as you!" yelled Knuckles as Sonic seemingly pulled away from him.

"Hurry up, Knux! We don't have all day!" the hedgehog replied impatiently, "Spider Bot could be anywhere, and yet … so could Tails."

Inside, though, the speedster was beginning to worry about Tails. He had a hunch that Spider Bot could be waiting for Tails to rescue Zooey and then attack him by surprise, which was exactly what Sticks was suspecting would happen.

" _Oh, Tails. I just hope you're okay, wherever you are,"_ Sonic thought to himself, _"Why did I have to let you go off on your own?"_

* * *

Eggman was watching everything from his control room, and he was banging his head on the control panel in frustration from the fact that Team Sonic had once again succeeded in outsmarting the lair's defenses.

"Every time! This defense system desperately needs an upgrade!" the villain sulked to himself.

The crippled doctor stared at his monitors and watched as the five heroes searched individually through multiple rooms and hallways in an attempt to find his captive.

"Orbot! Cubot!" he shouted at the door behind him.

In no time, the two 'said' robots burst into the room.

"Are you in need of medication again, Doctor?" asked Orbot.

"No! I want you and the others to start building a new defense system for this lair!" ordered Eggman.

"I thought you always built the defense systems!" protested Cubot.

"Uh, excuse me!? Can't you see exactly what it is I'm sitting on!?" Eggman shot back.

"A wheelchair?" said Orbot.

"Precisely!" replied Eggman, "Because I can't walk, you crapheads, and when I can't walk, I CAN'T WORK ON MY DEFENSE SYSTEMS!"

The two robots just froze in silence, which only annoyed Eggman even further.

"Well, what are you waiting for!? GET OUT!" the doctor screamed on top of his lungs, which created more stress pain for his broken back, "AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!"

Horrified by Eggman's screams, Orbot and Cubot instantly sped out of the room and left their master alone.

"When will this pain end!?" Eggman asked himself as he could feel nothing but pain from the injuries that Tails had given him, "I can't wait to give Tails a piece of my mind!"

* * *

Tails was still searching for Zooey. He had searched the entirety of the first two floors of Eggman's lair without success. Now, he was on the third floor and was more determined than ever to get his lover back.

What puzzled Tails, though, was that ever since the alarms had ceased, the entire area surrounding the lair had been rather quiet. To him, it seemed that his teammates hadn't quite come across Spider Bot just yet. He only hoped that he wouldn't stumble upon it while trying to find his girlfriend.

Just then, Tails peeked towards another hallway and noticed Sonic and Knuckles appearing to be looking for something.

The fox slowly stepped out and revealed himself to his teammates.

"Sonic? Knuckles?" he called.

Sonic turned and saw Tails calling them from about ten yards away.

"Tails?" Knuckles replied.

"Where's Zooey?" asked Sonic.

"I haven't found her, and I'm just worried sick for her now," the fox replied as sweat poured down his face.

"Okay, take a chill, bro," said Sonic as he noticed that Tails was on the verge of hyperventilating, "We'll find her."

The cobalt hedgehog wrapped an arm around his brother to calm him down so that he wouldn't have a panic attack.

"Just relax, lil' bro," he soothed him, "Take a few deep breaths."

Tails did as he was told, and he slowly calmed himself down.

"No sign of Spider Bot yet?" the fox asked once he had regained his composure.

"Nope," replied Knuckles, "Sticks has her worries, though."

"About what?" asked Tails.

"Don't mention that now, Knuckles," Sonic interjected, "We need to focus on finishing this as soon as possible."

"And?" replied Knuckles.

"And the longer we stand here, the worse the circumstances will be," said Sonic, "We need to end this now."

"There's nothing to end around here," said Knuckles, "There's no robots around."

Tails glared furiously at Knuckles after hearing that.

"Yeah, but they'll be robots guarding Zooey, and I'm sure that any minute now they'll be at it!" the fox shouted.

"At it?" said Knuckles in pure confusion.

"You heard what that egg-shaped son-of-a-bitch said!" Tails yelled, "Those robots could be at it, ripping her apart right now, and Eggman will rape her endlessly until she's dead! I lost one girlfriend through tragic circumstances, … AND I WILL NOT LOSE ANOTHER ONE!"

"Tails! Calm down!" shouted Sonic as he wrapped his arms around Tails again, "We don't want Eggman's robots to hear us in here!"

Then …

"Tails?" said a female voice from behind a door that was next to them.

The fox recognized that voice immediately, and he knew right then and there that his lover was behind that door.

Without a moment's hesitation, Tails wrestled himself out of Sonic's comforting grasp, and he pulled out his monkey wrench and banged it against the door.

His eyes picked up the sight of Zooey strapped to a chair, surrounded by two small robots with chainsaws.

"ZOOEY!?" the fox screamed.

"Tails!?" replied Zooey with a scared look on her face, "What are you doing here!?"

"I'm gonna get you outta here!" said Tails he ran towards his girlfriend.

"No! You've gotta get outta here now! It's a trap!" shrieked Zooey.

"Never!" replied Tails, not believing her.

"Go! Save yourself!"

"I won't leave you!"

Suddenly …

As Tails was about to approach Zooey, a gigantic robot came crashing down between them with a large thud.

The fox lost his balance and fell to the floor. Then, he looked up and realized exactly what it was …

The robot had eight legs and a monstrous insect head. Its jaw was filled with saw-edged teeth.

Tails recognized this robot immediately as the Spider Bot they had encountered on the beach.

Spider Bot then released a monstrous roar from its mouth at a deafening volume level. The fox covered his eyes and screamed in terror.

Sonic and Knuckles burst into the room and gazed at Spider Bot as it roared at Tails.

Once the roar had stopped, Tails looked up and saw Sonic looking down at him with a worried look on his face.

"Are you okay, buddy?" he asked.

"It could have gone without that monster getting in my way!" replied Tails as Sonic helped him back up.

"Guys! A little help here, please!?" called Knuckles as he stared at Spider Bot.

"Speaking of which, where are Amy and Sticks?" asked Tails.

No sooner did he say that when the two girls burst into the room, holding their weapons.

"I knew it!" yelled Sticks as she saw her suspicions come true, "Spider Bot was waiting for us to save Zooey before attacking us! Why didn't you believe me!? It's not like I'm paranoid!"

"Sticks," said Amy, "We know you're not paranoid some-"

"No time for that!" called Sonic, "We gotta crush this thing NOW!"

"CHARGE!" screamed Knuckles.

Without another word, Sonic, Knuckles, Amy and Sticks all charged attacks at Spider Bot.

Tails, meanwhile, tried looking for a gap to sneak past the robot and get to his girlfriend. The only thing he wanted to do was ensure her safety. It seemed that it would be the only way to start re-curing his depression.

The fox's four teammates were all at it, though. Sonic was performing Spin Dashes on Spider Bot's head, which seemed to do quite a lot of damage. Sticks was whamming her boomerang against the monster's blood red eyes. Red glass shattered and went flying across the room. Knuckles was throwing punches at the robot's underside, and Amy was banging her hammer against its arms.

Tails managed to find a gap near a wall, and he tiptoed right by Spider Bot's legs, hoping to not be detected.

Just then, one of Spider Bot's legs came crashing down right in front of Tails. The two-tailed kitsune backed away in fear that the robot had spotted him, but then he realized that there was nothing connected to the leg …

Amy had pounced it off with her hammer.

The fox let out a sigh of relief and continued to tiptoe towards his girlfriend.

Just then, with no glass in the way, the robot's eyes released giant red laser beams that bounced off the walls.

One of them hit Knuckles, and he went flying across the room and banged against a wall.

"OW!" the echidna yelped in pain as he slid down the wall and crashed to the floor.

"Take cover!" called Sonic to his team as he dodged the second laser beam by sidestepping.

Tails jolted upwards as the laser beam went under his feet, and Amy had to crawl underneath Spider Bot to dodge the beam.

Sticks would be the unfortunate one …

The beam hit her back while she wasn't looking, and she was sent on a one-way trip against a wall in the same manner as Knuckles. The badger then slid down the wall and came down to the floor.

By now, Tails had made it to Zooey's chair, but he still had two more robots in his way.

The robot guards started up their chainsaws and pointed them at the fox.

Tails, however, reacted much quicker. The fox got his monkey wrench back out and lifted himself with his two appendages.

"Take this!" he yelled as he swung his wrench at the guards.

The two small robots each took one hit, but that was enough to leave them both in pieces.

Tails came back down and started unstrapping Zooey from her chair, when Spider Bot turned around and noticed him.

The robotic insect roared and fired a plasma ball at the fox.

"TAILS!" yelled Zooey, gaining her boyfriend's attention.

The fox turned and saw the plasma coming right for him.

With no hesitation, Tails grabbed his wrench and swung it at the plasma like a baseball bat.

The plasma ball was sent flying in the other direction, right back towards Spider Bot, and it hit it directly at its right-side arm mechanism.

The robot screamed monstrously in pain as the mechanism melted, and all four of its right legs detached from its body, which in turn went crashing to the floor. The room rumbled from the impact of the fall, which nearly brought Sonic and Tails down to the floor, but the two maintained their balance.

"I'd consider that a home run!" commented Sonic to Tails before he performed another Spin Dash at Spider Bot's head.

Tails turned back to Zooey and unscrewed the right strap. The vixen felt so happy to be able to move her arm again after what felt like so long not being able to move.

The fox then unscrewed the left strap, and Zooey was finally free.

The vixen jumped from the chair and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend.

"Oh, Tails! Thank you so much!" she cried happily, "I love you!"

"I love you, too, Zooey!" replied Tails, "You have no idea how worried I was about you!"

"Uh, guys? I think you two might wanna get outta here quick!" called Sonic with a concerned look on his face as he stared at Spider Bot's three remaining legs.

The legs were all swinging around aimlessly like those of a sea monster. It looked as though in a matter of time someone would get killed.

"Amy! Let's finish this thing!" Sonic shouted.

Amy complied and swung her hammer at Spider Bot once more.

Another arm seared off its body and crashed to the floor.

Tails and Zooey, meanwhile, got back up and ran past Spider Bot as quickly as they could.

"We'll meet you at the back door!" Tails shouted to his team.

"Got it!" replied Sonic as the two lovers left the room.

Knuckles and Sticks got back up to their feet and did their best to fight off whatever physical pain they had left after being hit with the laser beams. They looked over at Spider Bot and noticed that it only had two left legs that were swinging around the room.

"Let's finish this!" said Knuckles.

"Yeah, so I can stop creating nightmarish visions in my head!" added Sticks as she looked at Spider Bot again.

One of Spider Bot's arms whacked Sonic and Amy and sent them sliding across the floor and banging against the wall.

"UGH!" yelped Amy in pain.

Sonic turned just in time to see Sticks swing her boomerang at another arm and yank it off of the robot's body.

The body then started spinning around, and the last remaining arm was now like a deadly fan blade.

The brown badger managed to escape the spinning arm by jumping across the room, while Knuckles took a more energetic approach …

The red echidna took a giant leap of faith and charged his fists as much as he could.

"KNUCKLE SANDWICH!" he screamed as he came down and smashed his fists against the robot's head.

The insect head snapped from its body and crashed to the floor. Upon impact, it smashed into a million pieces as it released one last weak roar. The body stopped spinning, and its remaining leg broke free and flew across the room before it also crashed to the floor.

Sonic, Amy and Sticks watched in astonishment as Spider Bot's head and body steadily stopped moving and slowly died.

Knuckles then emerged from the wreckage and beamed proudly at his teammates.

"For every punch, there is to be a victim," he stated with pride.

"Nice going, Knuckles!" said Sonic as he and Amy got back up to their feet, "Now let's go meet Tails at the back!"

* * *

At that very moment, Tails and Zooey were running downstairs to the first floor, panting and sweating while at it, and were about to head for the exit that Tails had used to enter the lair, … when suddenly …

The two lovers found their path blocked by another giant robot …

* * *

 _ **Well, it seems that Tails' troubles aren't over just yet, as he has run into yet another obstacle. Will he and Zooey escape this giant robot, or will one or both of them end up in the hands of Eggman? If so, can Sonic, Amy, Knuckles and Sticks save them from Eggman's evil clutches?**_

 _ **BTW, the next chapter will contain the REAL climax, as Eggman isn't quite finished yet! At this point, I would consider there being two chapters to go, so I'm getting close to the end of this!**_

 _ **Please review if you'd like, and I'll be back this weekend with the final confrontation!**_


	11. Chapter 10: Tails vs Eggman

_**Well, after another exhausting week, I'm back with the climax of this story that has put a lot of stress on me. I hope the end result is fantastic for you!**_

 _ **Anyways, enjoy!**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 10**_

 _ **Tails vs. Eggman**_

* * *

Tails and Zooey stared at the Obliterator Bot that was blocking their path to the exit. Zooey was horrified, but Tails immediately brought his left wrist to his face and activated his communicator.

"Sonic! A little help here please!?" he shouted into his communicator.

"We're on our way, bro!" he heard his hedgehog brother reply.

But it was too late …

The Obliterator Bot reached down and snatched Tails with one of its big arms.

"TAILS!" screamed Zooey in horror.

"AAAAHHHH!" screamed Tails as he tried to wrestle himself out of the robot's fist, "ZOOEY! HELP! HELP ME!"

The vixen could only watch as the Obliterator Bot took her boyfriend up another flight of stairs. She began hyperventilating as the thoughts of him being tortured by Eggman began to consume her mind.

A moment later, the rest of Team Sonic arrived, only to find Zooey weeping on the floor.

The blue hedgehog knew right away that something bad had happened, and he was sure that it involved Tails.

"Zooey? Are you okay? What happened?" Sonic asked the vixen.

"It's Tails! They took Tails! A big robot scooped him up and took him to Eggman!" Zooey yelled as she bawled her eyes out.

Sonic felt his heart rate go up at an alarming rate after hearing that Tails had been captured. It was at times like these when he felt that it was time to put everything in the universe aside, and do anything he could to save his brother, even if it meant sacrificing himself just for Tails' own safety.

"I will not let that fat ass lay one finger on my little brother!" he shouted out loud, seemingly unaware of four others in his presence.

The four all looked at him like he was crazy, and he realized that he had nearly panicked in front of everyone.

"Are you alright?" asked Amy.

Sonic set all of his fears aside and started pondering numerous strategies in his head.

He had to think of a plan … and fast!

The hedgehog turned to his team and started giving the orders …

"Amy, Sticks, get Zooey to safety! I'm sure Tails parked his plane by the back door! Knuckles, you're with me!" he said.

"Got it!" replied Amy before she and Sticks walked up to Zooey, "Zooey, please calm down. We'll get you outta here."

"We'll have Tails back soon," added Sticks.

"I hope," replied Zooey sadly.

The pink hedgehog gently helped her good friend back up with help from Sticks, and they led her to the dark corridor that Tails had used.

Sonic and Knuckles, on the other hand, ran back upstairs and began their search for Tails.

* * *

Tails was brought to a door at the end of a hallway on the top floor, and the Obliterator Bot suddenly opened its fist and dropped the fox to the floor. He came down with a thud, and it left some pain in his face and chest.

"Ya think you could be less abusive when carrying people!?" the fox yelled at the robot.

The door then opened, and it revealed a room with windows all around it that provided a somewhat good view of Bygone Island, and it featured dozens of control panels.

Tails could not recall seeing this room before, so he assumed it must have been an additional room from when Eggman had to rebuild his lair after the fox bravely destroyed a gigantic Monster Bot with the Tornado, which resulted in the old lair melting to smithereens.

The plane had been an experimental project intended to revive the Tornado so that Tails could give his own plane a break, but this project was short-lived after the catastrophe with Monster Bot, and Tails reverted back to his own yellow pride with wings.

All of a sudden, Tails felt the Obliterator Bot's hand shoving him towards the doorway, and within seconds the fox was pushed in, and the door closed.

Tails looked around the room and gazed at his surroundings, until he noticed a crippled Eggman in a wheelchair, staring out towards the orange sunset.

"Ah yes. It's about time I saw your face again, Tails," the evil doctor spoke in a cold voice as he turned his wheelchair around to face the two-tailed kitsune, "I've been waiting three days for this."

Tails was stunned as he took notice of the injuries his enemy had. He had no idea until now what he had done to him with his Gold Ray. He was afraid to admit it, but he felt somewhat regretful for harming him that severely.

"I've been hungry for revenge ever since you did this to me!" Eggman trailed off in anger, "Do you know what it's like to not be able to move a muscle for days!?"

Tails simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, just you wait. In just a matter of minutes, I'll have your limbs treated to real torture in the hands of my newly-built Torture Bot!" finished Eggman.

Tails gave the villain a dumbfounded look and replied, "You really _do_ come up with the stupidest names for your creations."

"Quite wise words from someone like you," commented Eggman.

"Well, duh! I do so happen to have an IQ that's about the same as yours!" Tails shot back, "Plus, what do you mean by Torture Bot!?"

"Well, I'm so glad you asked!" replied Eggman before turning his back on the fox, "Orbot! Cubot! Send in Torture Bot!"

Tails crossed his arms and stood where he was. He wouldn't admit it, but he felt as if Eggman's new Torture Bot would be nothing more than a small, dull robot that could do nothing special.

However, his prediction was proven wrong …

Seconds later, Orbot and Cubot entered the room. With them was a small red robot that was equipped with what appeared to be hundreds of blade-like knives.

Tails gulped in fear.

"Tails, say hello to Torture Bot! It features the latest in blade technology that shall be unleashed to tear you apart!" announced Eggman.

"You wanna tear me to shreds just because I accidentally harmed you with my Gold Ray!?" the fox yelled.

"Accidental? You did it on purpose because I had teased you about your tails!" Eggman retorted.

"It was accidental because I didn't know it was set to boomerang mode!" argued Tails, "Just because of that one mistake, you wanna rape my girlfriend to death and then rip me apart!?"

"What else could I think of to humiliate you?" said Eggman, "I thought that by turning your girlfriend against you and then killing you in disgrace would be the perfect revenge for leaving me as a cripple!"

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" screamed Tails, "I never meant to cause such harm to you, and yet you have the sick, twisted nerve to cause me such pain and humiliation!? You are such a twisted bastard!"

"Try all you want, but no insult will get to me as much as 'freak' gets to you!" Eggman shot back.

"Shut the hell up!" screamed Tails the instant he heard the word 'freak'.

"Why should I?" asked Eggman, looking as if he was confused, although Tails knew that he wasn't.

Suddenly, the door was blasted off the doorway and smashed into one of the windows, and into the room came Sonic and Knuckles.

"Did somebody call for backup?" said Knuckles after Tails dodged some flying glass from the windows.

"Well, well, look who it is! The blue pineapple has come to save the day!" said Eggman, "I must admit I didn't see that one coming!"

"Yeah? Well, maybe you should reconsider your predictions next time, Egg Head," replied Sonic.

"Or maybe, … how about you?" Eggman replied before pressing a button on one of his control panels.

Right behind the trio of heroes, an elevator shaft opened, … and, to their sheer horror …

Amy, Sticks and Zooey were shoved out of the shaft by four more robot guards.

"What!?" Knuckles screamed, "But … that's impossible!"

"Maybe you should all be careful about predicting where I place my lair guards! My defense system is only about to get better than ever!" said Eggman proudly as three of the guards each held one captive, and the fourth one grabbed Knuckles before he had a chance to throw a punch at it.

"Hey!" the echidna yelled as he felt his body get squeezed to the point of almost killing him.

At that moment, Torture Bot jumped in front of the four captives and started spinning its blades in a threatening manner so that Sonic and Tails could not save them without getting themselves sliced apart.

"You see, bulkheads!?" said Eggman evilly, "There's nothing you can do to stop my evil plan now!"

A fifth guard suddenly burst into the room and grabbed Sonic while his back was turned on it.

"AGH!" the hedgehog screamed as he felt as if he was about to be squeezed to death.

"And now, it's time for the moment I've been waiting for!" announced Eggman as Torture Bot slowly approached Tails, "Do you have any last words, Tails, before I finish my revenge before the very eyes of your friends who turned you into the emotional mess you have become and shall remain as you die?"

All Tails could do was look at his five friends with a miserable look on his face. He looked as if he was ready to burst into tears and weep like a toddler. That one look was all that had to tell how sad and humiliated he felt right now. He had let his entire team down, and even worse, he had let his girlfriend down, all because of one mistake that he didn't intend to make. Now, here he was: about to be killed in disgrace by Eggman in front of his friends, and presuming that the evil scientist would probably kill them after finishing him.

Out of all of Tails' friends, Sonic was especially torn up inside. He could only watch as his worst nightmare was coming true: his best friend, … his little brother, … the one whom he had taught so much, … the one he had tried so hard to protect from danger, … was about to be ripped apart by Eggman before his very eyes. He never wanted this to happen to Tails, and he especially never wanted to see it happen.

Zooey burst into tears as the thought of her boyfriend being murdered was too much for her to take. She could only weep in sorrow as she anticipated the moment that Eggman would destroy the love of her life.

Torture Bot was only a few feet away from the fox. It was ready to make the kill. All it was waiting for was for Eggman to give the signal, but what Eggman was waiting for was to hear Tails' final words.

"Fine then!" the fox yelled as he burst into tears, "Before you kill me, … I do have something I have to say!"

Those words, … 'before you kill me,' … immediately burned into Sonic's brain. This only made the moment feel even more like a nightmare coming true. He desperately wanted to throw Eggman out the window of this room, but since he was trapped within the tight grasp of a robot guard, there was nothing he could do but watch as his little brother prepared to make his final speech.

"Torture Bot, stay where you are!" ordered Eggman.

Torture Bot stopped spinning its blades and ceased all movements.

With the room suddenly still and silent, Tails felt as if time had stopped. He felt like he was stepping towards the doorway to nowhere. He had no idea what to do at that moment. It was like being in a dark, soulless world where nothing could exist.

With tears still spilling from his eyes, the kitsune finally spoke up …

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

"That's all?" said Eggman after a few more seconds of silence.

"I'm sorry to all of my friends," added Tails, "I'm sorry for all the wrongdoings I've committed. I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused for all of us. I'm sorry for the trouble I've put us all into. I'm sorry for letting my team down. I'm sorry for letting my girlfriend down, but I'm especially sorry for letting the world down."

Tails' five friends all broke into sobs as they listened to the fox's tearful last words.

"Anything else?" asked Eggman impatiently.

Tails glared coldly at Eggman while tears continued to trickle down his face.

"One last thing," he answered.

"Well then, get on with it. I don't have all evening. I gotta get some sleep to get over this back pain, ya know!" complained Eggman.

Knowing that now was the only time he would be able to do so, Tails slowly dug into the pocket of his work belt wrapped around his waist. He then pulled out a small rectangular cube.

"So, … I assume you're gonna blow yourself up with a bomb?" said Eggman, feeling quite amused at the thought of Tails committing suicide out of shame and humiliation.

Then, …

The fox pressed his thumb against a tiny button on the cube, and it suddenly opened up and transformed itself into something that Eggman, Knuckles, Amy and Sticks hoped would never see again …

The Gold Ray!

Everyone who recognized the weapon immediately gasped in horror, which gained the attention of Sonic and Zooey.

"Oh, no! Not again!" shouted Sticks with a horrified look on her face.

"Tails! No!" screamed Amy.

"Not the Gold Ray!" finished Knuckles.

Sonic and Zooey gasped after hearing the words 'Gold Ray'. They had heard that name in the last few days when Tails told them his sad story about how the team wrongfully abused him after he had used it on Eggman.

Tails ignored his team and continued glaring tearfully at Eggman. Then, he pointed the Gold Ray directly at him.

The villainous scientist stared at the Gold Ray with wide eyes of horror as he anticipated history repeating itself in just a matter of moments.

"Are you really serious!?" he growled at the fox, "You have no idea how much pain I got from that thing! You must be completely out of your mind!"

"Who says a genius is ever out of his mind!?" Tails shot back furiously.

Somehow picking up the sense of a threat to its master, Torture Bot started spinning its blades again and prepared to charge at Tails.

"If anyone's out of their mind, it's you!" Tails continued, "You and your sick brain hatching the idea to rape my girlfriend with the help of raping robots just because I caused you harm I didn't intend!? I'd vomit all over you if I heard that a hundred times in just a matter of minutes!"

"Well, I can tell that this time, you **do** intend to cause me pain!" Eggman shot back, "I'll be contacting my lawyer and opening a case against you for intentional physical violence!"

"And what makes you think you can do that!?" asked Tails, "I'm only eight years old, which means I'm too young to be treated as a criminal!"

"I don't care," said Eggman, "I can launch a case against whomever I want!"

"Besides, I can most definitely open a case against you for intending to rape my girlfriend! Now that's a real crime!" argued Tails.

"Now there's two reasons why it wouldn't turn out in your favor," put in Eggman.

"What reasons!?" asked Tails.

"One: I never actually got to rape her!" said Eggman.

"But you still threatened to, and you admitted you wanted to!" argued Tails.

"Don't interrupt, ya yellow flying fur!" retorted Eggman, "And two: The justice system wouldn't be loyal for a freak like you!"

Everyone gasped as they anticipated the inevitable ray of plasma that would come blasting towards Eggman just as had happened four days ago.

Tails gritted his teeth and aimed his Gold Ray directly at Eggman's face.

"SAY THAT WORD AGAIN!" the fox screamed, "SAY IT! I DARE YOU!"

Amy, Knuckles and Sticks were immediately brought back to the time Tails said those very words to Eggman and shot him with the Gold Ray, which led to devastating consequences for everyone.

"Or what? You'll kill me and lead everyone into a universe of sadness, boredom and depression?" said Eggman.

"Kill you!? Do you really think I'd ever kill you!?" yelled Tails, "Never in my life have I invented or carried a weapon designed to kill people! I may be younger than you, but I know better than to do such a sickening thing! You're just a cold-blooded murderer!"

"Which, in fact, I'm very proud to be," replied Eggman, "And I can't wait to add another six victims to my murder list!"

"Perhaps your wish will have to be put on hold, Egg Face!" shouted Tails.

Suddenly, the fox pointed his Gold Ray towards a control panel and set it to Boomerang Mode. Then, judging his moment accurately, he fired a ray of plasma.

Tails' teammates all shut their eyes as they expected the worst to happen …

However, what happened instead was the plasma burning up the control panel and bouncing off towards the Torture Bot.

The blade-equipped stood no chance of defending itself, and the plasma blasted it towards a window. Glass was smashed and flew everywhere as the Torture Bot flew out the window to its death.

"No! Not my brand new robot! I was looking forward to doing many things with it!" yelled Eggman in horror, only to meet the sight of Tails' Gold Ray pointed directly at him again.

A sharp pain hit Eggman's back again, and he yelped in pain. The other members of Team Sonic opened their eyes after realizing that their brief moment of horror had passed, but they were still worried that Tails may still hit Eggman with his Gold Ray.

"You have no idea what it's like to have such intense back pain!" the villain complained, "I can barely move without getting a sharp sting! You've made my life so miserable lately!"

"You think I made your life miserable!?" Tails shot back, "Think again, thick head! You've tried so many times to make our lives miserable, and all that happens is that you get tastes of your own medicine! So, essentially, you've made your own life miserable!"

"Well, thanks to what you've done to me, I won't rest until I make your life as miserable as possible, now that I can't kill you with my Torture Bot!" said Eggman.

"And what do you plan to do?" asked Tails, "Just torment me to no end with your insults in front of my friends until you run out of them? Why not speak with some dignity?"

"I'm surprised to hear that, seeing as you appear to be undignified," commented Eggman coldly.

"What the hell do you mean by 'undignified'!?" shouted Tails as his anger took control of him again, "I'm a pilot and inventor with a lot of dignity!"

"You're undignified because you're a freak!" Eggman added.

That was the last straw …

Tails felt his cheeks blushing deeply in fury and humiliation. Tears started welling from his eyes once again as that forbidden word burned into his brain.

Zooey and the rest of Team Sonic all gasped and held their breaths as they anticipated that their aerialist would once again hit Eggman with his Gold Ray.

" _Please don't do it, Tails!"_ thought Amy.

Tails' body shook as if he was having a panic attack, while he kept his Gold Ray pointed towards Eggman and his finger was ready to pull the trigger.

"Tails, … please don't," said Sonic in a calm voice, which surprised everyone in the room, except Eggman.

This somehow managed to get his little brother to stop shaking, and he was about to put his Gold Ray down, when …

"Ha! I knew it! You're nothing but a bluffing freak!" shouted Eggman as he laughed evilly.

Tails once again burst into tears as he re-pointed his weapon at his team's nemesis. His heart rate was rising dramatically, and he felt as if all he wanted to do was blast Eggman into next year.

With nothing to stop his fury, Tails screamed on top of his lungs, "GO TO HELL, EGGMAN!"

"TAILS! NO!" everyone else in the room screamed.

But it was too late to stop him now …

At that very instant, Tails set his power slider all the way to the right and pulled the trigger, and a powerful ray of golden plasma came out of the Gold Ray, aiming directly towards Eggman.

The injured scientist was too busy laughing evilly to notice the plasma coming towards him, and he didn't notice until it was too late.

"Oh, no," he murmured.

The plasma hit him directly in the chest, and he and his wheelchair were suddenly blasted backwards towards a wall of control panels. The back of the chair smashed into the wall, and the panel exploded with a burst of electricity. The wheelchair then bounced off and headed directly for the robots that were holding the rest of Team Sonic and Zooey.

The captives all closed their eyes and turned their heads away just as Eggman collided with the robots, and they all went crashing down to the floor, which released everyone they were holding.

The heroes got themselves up after falling to the floor, while Eggman's wheelchair bounced off one of the robots and was blasted out another window.

"YYEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" he screamed as he took a long fall all the way from the top floor of his lair down to the grounds below.

What everyone in the room heard next was a big thud as Eggman's wheelchair crashed to the ground.

Sonic rushed over to the window where Eggman had blasted through, and he looked down to see whether he was dead or alive.

Eggman's arms appeared to be making very small movements, and his wheelchair had smashed into a thousand pieces.

"I think Egg Head is lucky to be alive," the hedgehog commented as he turned to his little brother, who was now on the verge of bursting into tears again.

Everyone looked at Tails as if they were scared, and the fox shared sad glances with his friends.

Then, unable to contain his emotions any longer, Tails dropped his Gold Ray, collapsed to the floor and burst into tears. The poor fox started weeping as the guilt of once again attacking Eggman with his Gold Ray took hold of him.

A stunned Sonic walked over to his little brother and knelt down to comfort him.

"Tails?" the speedster spoke gently, "Are you okay, little bro?"

"No," Tails replied as he felt his big brother lifting him up for some warmth, "Why have I suddenly become so violent? What has become of me? I've turned into a monster!"

"You're no monster, Tails," replied Sonic as he placed his hands on Tails' shoulders, "Nor are you violent. Just because you attacked Eggman twice with a harmful weapon, doesn't make you a violent monster."

"B-but, … (sniffle) … I k-killed … Eggman!" wept Tails.

"You didn't kill Eggman," said Sonic gently, "The wheelchair saved his life."

Tails was very surprised to hear that.

"I thought … (sniffle) … I had … m-mur-murdered him!" the fox cried, "I thought you'd hate me for killing our enemy and leading us to a life of boredom!"

"Sssh. It's okay, little bro," soothed Sonic, "Even if you did kill Eggman and led us to get bored for the rest of our lives, I still wouldn't hate you, … because you're my special little brother. I could never hate you."

The two brothers looked at each other, sharing glances of sincerity as the fox continued to let the tears pour down his white muzzle.

"I'm so sorry, Sonic," Tails whispered very faintly so that only Sonic could hear him.

"It's okay, Tails," Sonic whispered back with only Tails hearing him, "You have nothing to be sorry for. It's all over. It's just a memory now."

Tails managed to grin faintly at Sonic after listening to his soothing words.

"I love you, big bro," the fox whispered.

"I love you, too, little bro," the hedgehog replied.

The two brothers hugged each other as tightly as they could while Tails let his tears flow freely down his face. It was the only way he could let go of all the emotional pain that had consumed him over the past several days. It also allowed him to replace all of the pain with relief since he and his friends were all safe now, and Eggman was defeated once again.

Amy nearly cried as she and the others watched the two brothers hug each other. She felt that it was very heartwarming for poor Tails to have Sonic there to comfort and soothe him with his brotherly hugs. At times like these, it felt as if the two were more than brothers. Their relationship was so strong that no other one could compare to it.

Zooey slowly walked over to the two brothers, and Tails looked up and saw his girlfriend grinning at him.

"Tails?" the vixen whispered.

Sonic softened his grip on Tails and allowed him to get back up. The fox obliged, and he immediately wrapped his arms around Zooey's back.

"Zooey!" Tails cried softly, "I'm so glad you're safe! Oh, thank Chaos, you're okay!"

"I'm happy to be safe, but I'm even more happy that you saved the day, sweetie," replied Zooey.

Tails' cheeks blushed madly, and he instantly kissed Zooey hard on the cheek in such a loving fashion.

"I love you so much, Zooey!" cried Tails.

"I love you so much, too, Tailsy," replied Zooey.

Tails blushed even deeper from embarrassment.

"Do you have to call me that in front of everyone?" he asked her as he noticed Amy, Knuckles and Sticks all sharing awkward glances with him.

"Well, I personally think it's cute," replied Zooey, "After all, you're my sweet Tailsy!"

Tails' cheeks were as red as they ever had been in his life.

"Tailsy? That's a funny name," commented Knuckles.

"Does this mean he's suddenly a fox in disguise as a look-alike wannabe?" said Sticks.

"No," replied Amy, "It's just a name that Zooey likes to call him. He's still the same Tails we've always known."

"Lighten up a little, bro," said Sonic as he noticed Tails' deep red cheeks.

"There's no need to be embarrassed," added Zooey, "After all, they are your good friends."

"Yeah, but now everyone will tease me about that name to no end," commented Tails.

"No, we won't, Tails. We promise," objected Amy.

Tails and Zooey broke apart so that the fox could calm himself down. Sonic patted his back for a minute while their three teammates walked up to them.

"I know we've said it once before, … but we're really sorry for all the hurting we've caused for you," Amy apologized, "We had no idea what it would lead to."

"I'm just as guilty," added Sticks, "We did take things a little too far."

"I will admit, though, it was fun getting to trash a gigantic robotic insect," said Knuckles, "It made my day feel complete."

This earned snickers from Sonic and Tails.

"What's so funny?" asked Knuckles.

"No, you're right, Knux," said Sonic, "Trashing robots does feel like a lot of fun."

"Yeah, … well, anyways, … I also wanna apologize, Tails, for putting you into such a big mess," added Knuckles.

"It's okay, guys. I forgive you all," replied Tails with such sincerity in his voice, "It may take some more time for me to get over it after everything we've been through today, … but other than that, … I think I'm feeling a lot better than I was just a few minutes ago."

Everyone smiled at Tails, and the fox returned it with a smile of his own. It was the first real smile he had put on his face since he was kissing Zooey in the middle of the jungle roughly an hour and a half ago.

Then, suddenly …

One of the robots' arms severed, and it smashed against one of Eggman's control panels.

At that moment, an alarm sounded throughout the entire lair.

"Oh, no! This can't be good!" shouted Sticks as fear took over her once again.

Then, they heard a computerized voice echo throughout the room …

" **This complex will self-destruct in t-minus sixty seconds and counting!"**

Everyone felt their heart rates go up as they realized that the danger wasn't over just yet. They all had to leave right now!

"We gotta get outta here now!" yelled Amy.

"Right!" replied Sonic, "Amy, Knuckles, Sticks, head to the front entrance! Tails, Zooey and I will go to the rear and get the plane running!"

"Got it!" replied Sticks.

Without another word, the six all burst out of the room and started running through countless hallways and stairways towards the first floor.

Throughout the entire way down, they felt the ground rumbling as the walls and floors all started crashing down over them.

"Hurry!" shouted Sonic as the six reached the first floor.

" **This complex will self-destruct in t-minus thirty seconds and counting!"**

Amy, Knuckles and Sticks all ran for the front door, while Tails opened the door to the corridor he had used, and he, Sonic and Zooey ran in and sped down the corridor towards the back door where Tails' plane sat.

Knuckles ran towards the front door and smashed his fist against it to break it down. The door went crashing to the ground, and Knuckles, along with Amy and Sticks ran out into the open grounds.

Then, they looked to their left and spotted Orbot and Cubot lifting an unconscious Doctor Eggman and shoving him into his Eggmobile.

"Do you know how to drive this thing?" Cubot asked Orbot.

"Well, let's just say that I know a few basic controls," replied Orbot.

Within seconds, the Eggmobile had lifted itself into the air and flied away.

"I'll bet his next stop will be a hospital," commented Amy, "Especially given the fact that he needs another wheelchair."

At that moment, Sonic kicked the back door open and allowed Tails and Zooey to run over to the former's plane.

"I'll meet you with the others up front!" the hedgehog called.

"Got it!" the fox replied.

Sonic sped away, while Tails and Zooey climbed into the yellow plane. The vixen jumped into the back seat, while Tails took the controls. He immediately pressed the 'Ignition' button, and the propellers started turning. He then turned the control yoke around so that the plane was turning towards some space where he had enough ground to get the plane into the air without crashing.

" **This complex will self-destruct in t-minus fifteen seconds and counting!"**

"Hurry!" Zooey shouted to Tails.

"I'm going! I'm going!" replied Tails quickly as he pushed the throttle down.

The plane accelerated down the curved space it had, and soon it became airborne.

"Blue Leader, I'm airborne! I'll come down to reach you in a few seconds!" Tails spoke into his wrist communicator.

"Copy that, Yellow Sky!" replied Sonic.

The hedgehog turned up just in time to watch Orbot and Cubot carrying Eggman away in his Eggmobile just before several loud explosions rocked the lair grounds.

" **T-minus ten seconds!"**

"Come on, Tails!" yelled Sticks.

" **Nine!"**

Tails' yellow plane came into their view.

" **Eight!"**

Tails rotated the emblem on his work belt and started charging up his Enerbeam.

" **Seven!"**

"Today, Tails! Please!" pleaded Knuckles.

" **Six!"**

The young fox got his Enerbeam ready to fire and he looked down towards his teammates.

" **Five!"**

Tails fired four Enerbeams down towards his teammates.

" **Four!"**

Sonic, Amy, Knuckles and Sticks each grabbed an Enerbeam and were lifted off the ground.

" **Three!"**

"Speed it up, Tails!" shouted Zooey.

" **Two!"**

Tails pushed his throttle all the way down so that his engines would run at maximum power.

" **One!"**

Tails' plane gained speed and only just managed to bring its shadow over water before …

" **Zero!"**

A huge, loud explosion suddenly rumbled the entire area, as Eggman's lair blasted apart in a huge roar of fire and smoke which quickly consumed the entire space owned by the villainous doctor.

Sonic, Amy, Knuckles and Sticks all held on tightly to their Enerbeams and watched in astonishment as Eggman's lair blew up and smashed to the ground. Some of the debris was blasted into the sea surrounding the tiny island, and in just a matter of seconds, Doctor Eggman's lair was once again no more.

As soon as the black smokescreen was all that remained, they all looked away, and Tails slightly lowered the speed of his plane so that everyone was in for a safe trip back home to Bygone Island.

* * *

 _ **Finally! After a week of classwork, homework and writer's block, I, at long last, got this chapter completed! I feel as if I deserve a medal for everything I've been through!**_

 _ **And so, it appears to be good news for everyone on the good side! Eggman has been defeated yet another time, and his lair is once again in burning ruins. Zooey is finally safe with Tails again, and, best of all, Tails' emotions can finally start healing once and for all!**_

 _ **I greatly apologize for making you wait so long for this chapter, but I hope it was worthwhile. This summer session is more than halfway over now, so I'm getting close to reaching the end of it.**_

 _ **I will have the epilogue coming up next, and then this will be all over! Just one more chapter left to type up, and the sequel to "A Brotherly Vacation" will be complete!**_

 _ **As usual, please review, and I'll meet you at the finale! ;)**_


	12. Epilogue: A Healed Fox

_**Well, folks, I hope that you've enjoyed the many romantic, brotherly and suspenseful moments this story had to offer, and now it's time I closed it off with the epilogue!**_

 _ **Thankfully, my summer session at college is almost over, so that will give me a few weeks worth of breathing space before I go back for the fall semester.**_

 _ **I would like to thank you all for your reviews and the support you've given me over the last few weeks I've been writing this story. It really keeps me motivated, and I greatly appreciate it.**_

 _ **Anyways, without further ado, here's the ending to Sonic and Tails' Day Off! I hope you enjoy this final moment of romantic love … and brotherly love!**_

* * *

 _ **Epilogue**_

 _ **A Healed Fox**_

* * *

A few hours had passed since Tails accidentally blew up Eggman's lair again. Nighttime had fallen over Bygone Island. The orange sunset had been replaced with a dark blue sky filled with stars and moonlight. Almost everywhere on the island, all you could hear were crickets chirping night tunes, or the snores of the many residents that had long since fallen asleep.

Not at Tails' house, though …

Tails was just coming out of his bathroom after taking his night shower and brushing his teeth. Sonic and Zooey had decided to spend another night with Tails to make sure he was feeling alright after the catastrophe that had happened just a few hours ago.

While trying to take a day off seemed to help Tails get out of his emotional depression for a while, Eggman's surprise attack for revenge on the fox seemed to undo all that Sonic and Zooey had done for him. Tails' emotions especially took a nasty turn after Zooey was kidnapped, and continued to change for the worse after the kitsune attacked Eggman with his Gold Ray just like he had done three days earlier. However, once Team Sonic had returned home after the lair's destruction, they rendezvoused at Tails' house, where everyone shared gentle hugs with Tails, almost to the point of apologizing to no end. Eventually, Sonic decided it was time for everyone to hit the hay, and Amy, Knuckles and Sticks returned to their homes.

Despite his day off being cut short, just as was the case with his "Brotherly Vacation" with Sonic just a couple of months ago, Tails was now feeling a lot better than he had been feeling when he woke up this morning with a bloody nose. He felt as if he could get up tomorrow morning, have a nice breakfast and either start working in his workshop again or simply go flying his plane just for fun.

Overall, Tails felt as if his emotions were healing fast, and he couldn't wait to enjoy himself tomorrow.

Sonic was in the kitchen, sipping on a cold soda, while Zooey was relaxing on one of Tails' sofas. The two-tailed fox showed his fresh self to his two friends, and they were treated to a nice scent of Japanese Cherry Blossom shampoo.

"Wow, Tails! You smell so good!" commented Zooey.

Tails grinned proudly, "Thanks."

"I recognize that scent," added Sonic, "Reminds me of the one time I visited Japan."

Tails and Zooey both laughed at Sonic's comment, and the fox joined his girlfriend on the sofa.

"So, Tailsy, we've got the rest of the night to ourselves," said Zooey, "You wanna relax with me for a bit before you go to bed?"

"I'd love to," replied Tails in a loving tone.

"Oh, and by the way, what about that song you told me about?" asked Zooey.

This left Tails confused for a moment before he remembered humming that song in the desert with Sonic and Zooey in his presence.

"Oh, … you mean … the song I was humming this morning in the desert?" the fox said.

Zooey grinned at her boyfriend and replied, "Yep."

Tails sat where he was for about a minute and thought about how he could show his sweet lover that eighties piece he and Sonic had heard at Station Square's train station during their vacation.

"You look pretty thoughtful over there," said Sonic, taking notice of Tails' seemingly confused look.

Tails simply rubbed his white muzzle with his finger for a bit before he finally made a move …

He got up off the sofa and headed towards the side door.

"Hey, where are ya going, buddy?" asked Sonic.

"I'll be right back, guys. I gotta go grab something," replied Tails, and he opened the door and walked out towards his workshop.

Sonic began to feel concerned about his little brother once again. He was worried that Tails was about to go into another emotional lapse.

"Are you sure he's okay?" asked Zooey with concern in her voice.

"I'm hoping he is," answered Sonic, "He can very easily have emotional periods. From what I know, he developed anxiety way before I first met him. He had been bullied throughout his childhood because he has two tails."

"I had no idea that people bullied poor Tails," said Zooey.

"Everyone called him a freak all the time. He was considered a freak because of his tails. It was a birth defect he was born with, and everyone used to beat him up all the time. That's why he hates being called that word," continued Sonic, "I greatly consider forbidding that word from even being spoken in his presence. That one single word."

The hedgehog paused and sighed sadly as he remembered how Tails was like when they first met on Westside Island all those years ago.

"It just brings back the terrible memories of his childhood trauma."

"Poor Tails!" gasped Zooey in horror, "I could never have imagined that. The poor little guy."

"Aside from his parents who disappeared when he was _very_ young, I was kinda the first one to really tell him that his two tails were cool and that he was a special fox. I'd say he was _**gifted**_ with two tails. It wasn't just any old birth defect. It allowed him to fly, for crying out loud," added Sonic, "I think that our meeting and bonding may have saved his life. If it weren't for me, those bullies may likely have murdered him within about a year or two. He couldn't have survived living on his own like that for so long."

Zooey was astounded by Sonic's story. She had seen Tails act shy around other people before, but she never could have imagined that it was because of the bullying that gave him a miserable, painful childhood.

" _Poor Tails,"_ she thought sadly, _"My sweet Tailsy has been through so much cruelty in his life. No wonder he acts so shy around other people."_

"Not so long after we started to form a close bond, Eggman attacked the island, and we teamed up to stop him. I took Tails in as my sidekick, … and I brought him up as my adopted little brother," Sonic continued as he stared off into space, recalling those fond memories from years long past, "He really needed a special someone in his life, … and, to some extent, so did I."

Zooey looked into Sonic's eyes in amazement as he continued to stare at nothing in particular.

The speedster then shifted his gaze back to Zooey.

"We've been brothers and partners ever since, … right up to now," he concluded, "He was the first true friend I had, … and I was his first true friend. I didn't meet Amy or Knuckles until later. For a while, it was just the two of us."

"I had no idea that you two were friends for that long," said Zooey, "Now that I think about it, you two really are the best of brothers."

"I guess you could put it that way," replied Sonic.

Just then, Tails returned with his laptop in his hand. The fox closed the door behind him and walked back to the sofa where Zooey was sitting. As he sat down next to his girlfriend, he took notice of their concerned looks, and he knew right away that it was about him. Of course, he expected it to be that way, given he was still recovering from his recent depression.

"I'm okay, guys," the fox told his two friends softly in an effort to calm them down, "I only left just to get my laptop out of the workshop."

Sonic sped over to the sofa and sat next to his little brother.

Tails opened his laptop and powered it on. Within just a matter of seconds, the fox had typed in his password and opened up his browser.

"I haven't had a chance to listen to the whole song yet," said Sonic, "Even though it's been a few months since that vacation."

"I can't wait to hear it," added Zooey.

"All in good time," replied Tails as he opened up YouTube and typed 'Call It Love – Yello' in the search bar.

About a few hundred results appeared, but Tails decided to click the video that contained the official music video for "Call It Love."

"Looks promising," commented Zooey as a thumbnail appeared on the screen with a 'play' button in the center, "It looks quite colorful."

"Ready, guys?" asked Tails, bringing the mouse cursor over the 'play' button.

"I've been ready since you mentioned it this morning," answered Zooey.

"Here we go!" replied Tails, and he clicked the 'play' button.

 _The video started in what appeared to be a dimly-lit studio, with cameras strangely moving with nobody in the chairs. Some birds were heard in the background, followed by some hums; the same hums that Sonic and Zooey had heard from Tails earlier that day in the desert. Then, the music started in the key of F-minor with a slightly high pitch._

 _A few seconds later, they showed a woman with long upward-pointed hair and next to no facial expression, and then the camera revealed lead vocalist Dieter Meier, and he started singing …_

" _For all these years, I've been rushing and running away._

 _I've seen the cities, the bars and the beaches are full._

 _To keep away from you."_

 _Then came those high-pitched keyboard notes that Tails loved so much about the radio edit, just before Meier continued …_

" _I know I'll meet you one day for a lifetime. I'm scared._

 _One thousand years I could live on your smile. I'm scared._

 _I'll run away forever."_

 _The high keyboard notes played again, and this was immediately followed by a loud guitar chord as the camera panned away from Meier and towards the other Yello member, Boris Blank, who appeared to be playing a piano. Behind them, there was a red background with a greenish gem that somehow did not move when the camera moved, but it simply rotated and shined as it stayed in the center of the background._

" _Wow. Such astounding visual effects for that time period,"_ thought Zooey as she recalled Tails telling him that this song was from the eighties.

 _Some more random shots were shown, including a few more shots of the long-haired woman. During this instrumental break, the high keyboard notes played twice more, much to the delight of Tails' ears._

 _Meier then spoke into the camera …_

" _Call it love._

 _Just call it love."_

 _A guitar solo started playing, although Blank was still shown playing the piano._

"Where is the guitarist?" whispered Sonic, "All I see is a piano."

"Boris does all the music himself in the studio," Tails replied in a whisper, "Everything but the vocals."

Sonic seemed to somewhat understand, but he still wondered why wouldn't they show a guitarist although they were clearly listening to a guitar solo.

 _After the guitar solo, Blank then starting humming some background vocals, and the woman was then seen in front of a table of studio light switches. She turned one of the sliders up, and a light turned on just above her. She looked up, and the camera rose to reveal Meier sitting in a chair with the spotlight now on him, and he continued singing …_

" _For all that time, I've been crazy. There is no escape._

 _Come back to the city. Come back to the hotel and wait._

 _The city waits forever."_

Sonic and Tails recognized those lyrics immediately. Those were the very words that defined their brief return to a revived Station Square during their vacation a few months back.

 _The woman then turned the light back off by turning the slider back down, and Meier was then seen in different part of the room as he went on with his lyrics …_

" _I know I'll meet you one day for a lifetime. I'm scared._

 _One thousand years I could live on your smile. I'm scared._

 _I'll run away forever."_

 _Meier then began to walk away, while Blank was seen singing a backing part in one breath. People then started walking out of the studio._

 _As the final guitar solo began, one last shot showed Meier standing in front of a background of the rotating gem, which was now on fire. On the left side of the screen, the woman's silhouette was visible behind the background. That part of the background then ripped open like a couple of curtains as the fire consumed it, and the woman appeared briefly before she turned away and ran as Meier looked on._

 _Finally, the screen faded black as the music slowly faded out into silence, indicating the end of the video._

Sonic, Tails and Zooey sat there in silence for a moment as they allowed the song to get stuck in their heads. Sonic had to admit that this was one hell of a song from a time before he became famous. Zooey, meanwhile, was fascinated. She thought it was the most beautiful song she had ever heard in her life. All throughout the song, her thoughts were on Tails. She could relate some of the lyrics to how Tails used to be a very shy fox, especially during the time he was crushing on her.

"That song was so sweet!" the vixen said, "Even though it's older than all of us, it sounds just like something you would write, Tails!"

Tails blushed madly as he was forced to grin from Zooey's loving words.

"Aw, Zooey! You're so sweet!" the fox replied.

Zooey simply planted a romantic kiss on Tails' cheek, making him blush even more.

"You're so sweet, too, Tails!" the vixen replied, making Tails giggle as he turned to Sonic.

"And so are you, Sonic, my awesome big brother!" the fox said happily.

"Oh, Tails! My awesome little brother!" replied Sonic, pulling Tails onto his lap.

The hedgehog wrapped one arm tightly around Tails' chest, trapping his arms in so that he couldn't escape. Tails knew right then what his brother was about to do.

"No! Please, no tickling!" the fox begged.

"Now that you've said it, too late now, lil' bro!" teased Sonic with a mischievous grin.

Sure enough, the hedgehog used his free hand to pull the fox's shoes and socks off, and he started tickling his bare yellow feet.

"No! NO! PLEASE! NAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" laughed Tails as he felt the tickling sensations within the nerves in his feet, "STAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHOP!"

"Hmm. I don't know. Shall I?" said Sonic as he paused for a moment before continuing, "Nope! I don't think so!"

The speedster switched to Tails' upper chest towards his chin. The fox could only sit on his brother's lap and laugh endlessly.

"AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" laughed Tails.

Zooey scooted next to Sonic and smiled as she delightfully watched the two brothers having fun with each other. She wasn't quite sure if Tails felt like he was having fun like Sonic was, but the laughs coming from the kitsune's mouth made him sound like he was having so much fun.

"PLEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEASE!" begged Tails through laughter as Sonic had begun tickling his muzzle, "NOHOHO MOHOHOHOHORE!"

"Maybe after this!" Sonic responded as he stopped tickling Tails' face and gave him yet another 'noogie' on his forehead.

"AAAGH! AAAAGHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!" yelled Tails in laughter, "NOHOHOHOHOHO FAHAHAHAHAIR! PLEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEASE STAAHAHAHAHAHAHOP!"

"Okay, little buddy. I think you've had enough for tonight," said Sonic.

The hedgehog stopped with the 'noogie' and allowed Tails to catch his breath. The fox let out long gasps as he struggled to regain his stability.

"I think you look adorable when you laugh," commented Zooey with a sweet-looking smile.

"I've always felt the same way," agreed Sonic.

"Oh, guys! Please don't start tickling me again!" panted Tails,

Sonic and Zooey giggled at Tails' reaction to their comments, having found it to be hilarious.

"Nah! We're not gonna start tickling you again, Tails. We promise," said Sonic.

"Good," replied Tails.

The fox finally re-stabilized his breathing, and Sonic loosened his hold on him so that he could get off his lap.

However, instead of getting off Sonic's lap, Tails turned around and wrapped his arms around his big brother's neck.

Sonic instantly grinned and returned the embrace by wrapping his arms around Tails' back.

"I love you, Sonic," whispered Tails happily with an adorable grin.

"I love you, too, Tails," replied Sonic.

Tails turned to Zooey and grinned at her, too.

"And I love you, Zooey," the fox said adorably.

"I love you, too, Tails," replied Zooey, smiling at Tails and kissing his cheek.

At that same moment, Sonic planted a brotherly kiss on Tails' forehead. The fox blushed madly in happiness again as his two best companions cuddled him and loved him.

"I really enjoyed taking most of the day off," said Tails, "It was especially nice to have two loving friends by my side."

"I was happy to be able to go with you," said Zooey.

"Two companions are better than one," added Sonic.

The three shared some laughs for a few seconds before Tails continued.

"I wanna thank you both for helping me fight off my depression," the fox said, "You're both such wonderful friends, … and I don't know where I would be without either of you."

"I'm happy to be your girl, Tails," replied Zooey with a loving smile that made Tails blush again.

"And I'm happy to be your caring big brother," added Sonic, winking at Tails.

Tails winked back at Sonic as the two brothers smiled at each other, feeling their brotherly love once again sinking in.

"I'm happy to be a hero's little brother, … and the boyfriend of the most beautiful girl on Mobius," said Tails.

"Aww, Tails! You are the nicest fox I've ever known!" replied Zooey, and she kissed Tails right on the lips.

Tails' muzzle turned deep red and he relaxed himself on Sonic's lap while Zooey kissed him tenderly. Sonic smiled as he watched his little brother receive lots of love from his loving girlfriend.

Soon, Zooey slowly pulled away from Tails and started rubbing his bare feet in a loving fashion.

"I've got the best two loving companions I could ever ask for," said Tails happily with a wide smile.

"We're happy to be in a special place in your heart," replied Zooey.

"We'll always be by your side, lil' bro, … no matter what happens," added Sonic, "And I'm glad we could get you out of the house for a while. For that, … you're more than welcome."

Tails smiled once again at his two companions, and at that moment the Yello song they had listened to a few minutes ago was beginning to get stuck in his head.

"What is it, lil' bro?" asked Sonic as he noticed a strange look on Tails' face.

"That song's stuck in my head now," replied Tails.

"The song we just listened to?" guessed Zooey.

"Yeah," sighed Tails, "It's happened to me the last few times I've heard that song during the night."

"I could understand that. Given that it's in a slightly high pitch, it's easy for a song like that to get stuck in someone's head," commented Sonic.

"Well, not just that. The lyrics feel as if they really mean something to us," added Tails.

"I could still remember the lyrics from the second verse when it was on that day at Station Square," said Sonic, "It felt like Station Square wanted us to come back for a day."

"True," agreed Tails, "But to some, that verse could mean something else depending on whom you ask."

"I guess you're right," said Sonic.

"I could relate some of those lyrics to how shy you've been before," said Zooey.

"You mean, something like, 'I know I'll meet you one day for a lifetime, I'm scared'?" said Tails.

"That, and what came after it, 'One thousand years, I could live on your smile, I'm scared'," added Zooey.

"Yeah. Reminds me of how nervous I was whenever I was around you," admitted Tails, "I was just simply falling in love, but I didn't know how to act."

"Well, now that we have each other, maybe I could help you become less shy around other people," offered Zooey.

"Aw, Zooey. Sonic's already taught me so much about not being so shy," said Tails.

"I taught him many lessons about his social life over the years before we moved here," Sonic put in.

"I know, … but perhaps I could offer a little more to that sometime," said Zooey.

Tails smiled at his girlfriend once again. Of course, saving her from one of Eggman's robots may have been what won him her heart, but he figured that whenever Eggman was not around and Team Sonic were free to hang out at the village, Tails would always be the one to shy away from those he didn't know very well. Now that he had won the heart of this beautiful vixen, he felt a little more confident about his social life, but he still seemed to lack many aspects of being social around people that weren't familiar with him.

" _Perhaps, … Zooey could teach me things that Sonic couldn't teach me before,"_ the fox thought to himself.

"Suddenly, I feel even happier to have fallen in love with you," he said softly to his girlfriend.

This earned a smile from Zooey.

"I feel happy to have fallen in love with you, too," she replied.

The vixen kissed her boyfriend's cheek once more, earning another chuckling smile from Tails. Then, the fox let out a soft yawn. To Sonic and Zooey, that yawn indicated that Tails was tired out after such a long day of relaxing, suspense, combat … and taking vengeance on Eggman.

"Feeling tired there, little buddy?" asked Sonic.

"Yeah," sighed Tails, "It won't be easy with that 'Call it Love' song in my head. My brain's begging me to play it again, … but I think that can wait another day."

"I'd love to hear that song again sometime," said Zooey, "I thought it was beautiful for its time."

"I really liked those guitar solos, especially the last one. If there hadn't been a guitar in there, I would've been bored," said Sonic.

"Yeah. Those solos really rock," chuckled Tails.

The three laughed again before Tails let out another yawn.

"Okay, Tails. I think it's time to hit the hay," said Sonic before he let out a yawn himself.

"Yeah. Let's get some shuteye," agreed Zooey with a yawn of her own.

"Maybe after a little something," said Tails, and he signaled for Zooey to come closer.

The vixen wrapped one arm around her boyfriend's back, prompting Sonic to wrap one of his arms around Zooey. Tails wrapped one arm around Sonic and the other around Zooey. Then, the three sat there and enjoyed their group hug for several minutes.

This was a moment that Tails had been wanting all night after a long battle with Eggman to keep Zooey away from harm. He felt that he had wanted a private, silent group hug with Sonic and Zooey since the moment they and the rest of the team returned to the island, and this was the perfect moment to have one and enjoy it while it lasted. With his brother and girlfriend loving and cuddling him with no one else around, Tails felt as happy as he ever had been during their time on Bygone Island.

Eventually, after a few minutes, the trio finally broke apart, and Tails reluctantly closed the browser and turned his laptop off. He had really wanted to play "Call It Love" again, but he knew that now was the best time to give it a rest and allow himself to get some much-needed rest after yet another nasty ordeal with Eggman.

"Okay, guys. I'm going to bed," Tails announced as he stood up and stretched his arms before walking slowly to his makeshift bed.

"So are we," replied Sonic, lying down on the sofa and pulling the blanket down to cover himself.

Zooey lied down on the other sofa and wrapped herself with another blanket.

"Thanks again for helping me with my emotional state. I really appreciate it," said Tails as he lied down on his bed and rested his head against the pillow while wrapping himself in his blanket.

"You're very welcome, Tails," Sonic and Zooey replied in unison.

"I love you both," said Tails.

"We love you, too, lil' bro," said Sonic.

"Goodnight, Tailsy," called Zooey.

"Goodnight, Zooey. Goodnight, Sonic," yawned Tails.

"Goodnight, little bro," replied Sonic.

With that, the three all fell into a deep sleep and were treated to some pleasant dreams throughout the night. Sonic and Zooey were very grateful that Tails was feeling a lot better after a pleasant day off, despite Eggman nearly ruining everything at the last minute.

Zooey was happy to have helped her boyfriend through these last few hard days, and she was very excited about seeing Tails wake up the following morning with a big smile on his face.

Sonic was extremely relieved that his little brother's depression was over, and could perhaps go back to being his usual running self the next day without having anything to worry about whatsoever.

As for Tails, the efforts made by Sonic and Zooey had cheered him up tremendously. He would not let a simple Gold Ray incident effect his life forever. It was time to move on, learn from his past mistakes and focus on the future. What could he come up with next? What project could he start off tomorrow? He felt that the possibilities were practically endless now that he was back to being his smart, youthful self again. He had so many things on his mind about tomorrow, but for now all he wanted to do was rest and continue enjoying the company of his caring brother and loving girlfriend.

For Miles "Tails" Prower, tomorrow would be a brand new day, and a brand new day would start a brand new chapter in his life with his close friends. He would not let his emotions get in his way. He was going to prove that any genius inventor could achieve their dreams. In Tails' case, not only did he want to make life easier, but also gain advantages over Eggman in combat.

For this little eight-year old, two-tailed fox, one fresh start was all he needed to help make his own life, and everyone else's, much easier. Tomorrow morning, everything would go right back to the way it should be.

Tails was now, indeed, … a healed fox.

* * *

 _ **And so, my sequel to "A Brotherly Vacation" is finally completed! Tails is back to enjoying life again, and all is well!**_

 _ **I want to give special thanks to those who gave me great support over the course of time I wrote this fanfic:**_

 _ **Magiku Maggi-Dixie Kong – You've given me so much support for my stories over the past few years, and I'm happy to be your boyfriend! I love you, sweetie!**_

 _ **Captain Hwawrang – I'd like to thank you for a few things you've taught me after reading my other SonTails stories. I'll always remember them for my future stories. Thank you!**_

 _ **The Kanadian Writer – Your series of family-themed "Sonic Boom" short stories was a great inspiration for this one, and I hope to see some more of those stories soon. I give my regards to you! :)**_

 _ **narrator925 (now known as SonicBoomFan4000) – As I understand it, you weren't very fond of the rating because the characters tended to curse often. I apologize for that, but I wanted to take an approach aimed for teens and young adults in this story, but if I ever make a sequel to this, I promise you, I'll cut out the vulgar language and aim for a "K" rating again. BTW, keep up the good work with your Sonic Boom Bloopers. They're extremely hilarious! XD**_

 _ **Oh, and to answer a question you had about Tails having a high IQ despite being only eight years old: some have theorized that having two tails made him smarter, while others say that he read a lot during his childhood. As seen in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Tails was fascinated with the Tornado the moment he first saw it, so we know he's already obsessed with planes and technology when he's first introduced in that game. I'm still looking into other theories, but I guess it depends on whom you ask. Right now, I somewhat accept the theory about having two tails making him smarter.**_

 _ **And lastly, to all the other writers whom have read this story, I hope you've all enjoyed this fanfic, and I can't wait to come up with more fantastic stories in the near future!**_

 _ **Right now, though, the only thing I need to worry about is finishing off my summer college session with Public Speaking, then I'll have a few weeks off before the fall semester begins.**_

 _ **Until next time, this is DiddyKF1, saying goodnight … and good luck!**_

 _ **;)**_

* * *

 _ **"Call It Love" - Performed by Yello, written by Boris Blank and Dieter Meier - (c) 1987 Phonogram GmbH**_


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